ERC orders Meralco to refund P7.75B in ‘over-recoveries’

The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has ordered the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) to refund over P7.75 billion in over-recoveries for a period of 12 months, starting this month.

In its order, the ERC directed Meralco to refund P7,755,444,758 to its residential customers or equivalent to an average refund of 46.69 centavos per kilowatt hour (kWh).

The amount is equivalent to a P93 refund for a residential customer consuming 200 kWh, according to ERC commissioner and spokesperson Rexie Digal.

The order stemmed from the ERC’s re-computation of Meralco’s regulatory asset base for the period 2012 to 2015, which resulted in over-recoveries or excess collections for the said period.

With this, the ERC ordered Meralco to refund the excess collections to residential customers as a separate line item in their bills for a period of 12 months.

Meralco spokesperson Joe Zaldarriaga confirmed the company’s receipt of the ERC’s order dated March on the refund of distribution-related charges.

“The refund, which is equivalent to P0.47 per kWh for residential customers, will appear as a separate line item in the power bills starting May,” Zaldarriaga said.—AOL, GMA News