ERC issues Order on Meralco's refund scheme
The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) issued today an Order on the implementation of Phase 1 of Meralco’s refund scheme for residential customers consuming 100 kWh or less. The Commission directed Meralco to start paying said customers in cash not later than June 6, 2003, with any refund amount first offsetting any arrearage in that customer’s bill, unless the customer would prefer that the refund be credited to his/her future billing. The one-time refund covered the period from February 1994 to May 2003 in the amount of PhP 0.167/kWh.
In addition, ERC directed Meralco to stop collecting from its customers the abovecited amount in its future billings.
The issuance of said Order was a result of the Supreme Court’s Resolution on April 9, 2003 denying with finality Meralco’s motion for reconsideration of the High Court’s Third Division ruling that income taxes should not form part of the utility’s operating expenses. ERC shall also immediately issue a separate Order for the refund to Meralco’s customers consuming more than 100 kWhs on the basis of the refund proposal to be submitted by said utility to the Commission.
PDF Copy of OrderMay 12, 2003