Meralco secures ERC nod for 290-MW power supply from San Miguel unit

THE Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has approved Manila Electric Co.’s (Meralco) purchase of the remaining 290 megawatts (MW) under its 1,200-MW power supply contract with San Miguel Group’s South Premiere Power Corp. (SPPC).

“After careful deliberation, the Commission resolved to add 290 MW to the originally approved capacity under the instant case,” the ERC said in a notice.

Under the resolution, the ERC said the additional capacity must be subject to the same rate as the previously approved P5.9282 per kilowatt-hour base rate.

Last year, the ERC granted provisional authority but approved the procurement of only 910 MW from SPPC’s 1,200-MW Ilijan natural gas-fired power facility.

The regulator said the remaining 290 MW was covered under a prior power supply agreement between the two companies, executed in 2019.

When asked for details, ERC Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer Monalisa C. Dimalanta said SPPC and Meralco had filed a motion for reconsideration, arguing that SPPC had transferred the 290-MW power supply agreement to Sual Power, Inc. (SPI).

SPI, a subsidiary of San Miguel Group under San Miguel Global Power Holdings Corp., operates the 1,200-MW coal-fired power plant in Pangasinan.

Following the assignment, the 290 MW was integrated into the 910-MW supply for Meralco under the 2024 power supply agreement.

“We checked our records and verified the assignment and hence allowed the consolidation,” Ms. Dimalanta said in a Viber message.

The ERC chief said final approval of the 2019 mid-merit power supply agreement has been deferred pending resolution of the Commission’s outstanding technical and legal concerns.

Meralco’s controlling stakeholder, Beacon Electric Asset Holdings, Inc., is partly owned by PLDT Inc.

Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has an interest in ����ý through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera