MANILA Electric Co. (Meralco) has assured that contracts resulting from bids will adhere to the new rules of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) on termination.
“With the new ERC guidelines, it is already stated there that before terminating [contracts], these need to go through the ERC,” Lawrence S. Fernandez, Meralco’s vice-president and head of utility economics, said on the sidelines of a media briefing last week.
“We will comply with that provision,” he added.
Meralco has recently launched the bidding for the procurement of its energy requirements, covering capacities of 1,800 megawatts (MW), 1,200 MW, and 660 MW.
The new bids for the 1,800 MW and 1,200 MW capacities aim to secure new suppliers following the termination of their power supply agreements (PSAs).
Last year, the ERC released guidelines governing the PSAs entered into by distribution utilities.
Under ERC Resolution No. 16, Series of 2023, the commission noted that no party to the PSA should be allowed to terminate the contract within a specified period “unless expressly allowed under these guidelines.”
Among the allowable grounds cited in Section 34 of the resolution is termination with prior approval from the ERC.
Mr. Fernandez, meanwhile, said that the recommendations from the ERC for the terms of reference (ToR) for the bidding covering 1,800 MW were also applied to the ToR for the 1,200-MW bidding.
“Most of the suggestions of [ERC Chairman Monalisa C. Dimalanta] for the 1,800 [MW] were also applied to the 1,200 [MW] to address the concerns,” he said.
The 1,800 MW bidding is meant to replace the contract for the electricity that were supposed to be supplied by Excellent Energy Resources, Inc. and Masinloc Power Partners Co. Ltd. The two companies are subsidiaries of San Miguel Power Global Holdings Corp., the power arm of San Miguel Corp.
Last year, San Miguel Power Global issued notices of termination of its power supply deals with Meralco, which then were approved by the ERC as the PSA application went beyond the date by which it should have been approved by the regulator.
Meanwhile, Meralco PowerGen Corp. (MGen), the energy generation arm of Meralco, is optimistic about achieving its target of building 1,500 MW of renewable energy (RE) projects by 2030.
“We have a lot in our pipeline that will meet at least 1,500 [MW],” MGen Chief Operating Officer Dominador M. Camu Jr. told reporters in a recent interview.
“Although they will not be completed by 2024, but the construction and the pipeline is continuing to be filled up. This includes [projects] in RE — solar, we have wind,” Mr. Camu said.
In August last year, MGen said it has allocated P18 billion to put up about two gigawatts of gross RE capacity from solar and wind.
Currently, MGen Renewable Energy, Inc., the renewables arm of MGen, has a portfolio that includes the 55-MW-alternating current (MWac) BulacanSol solar plant in San Miguel, Bulacan in partnership with Powersource Energy Holdings Corp.
This also includes the 68-MWac solar farm in Ilocos Norte of Nuevo Solar Energy Corp., a joint venture between MGreen and Vena Energy.
Meanwhile, Mr. Camu said that the company is applying for environmental clearance to convert its coal-fired power plant project in Atimonan in Quezon province to one that runs on gas, he said.
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 BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera
