ERC reports on status of MERALCO refund

Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) Chairman Manuel R. Sanchez reported that Meralco is still in the process of complying with the August 31, 2003 deadline set by the Commission to complete the first phase of refund for all residential and general service customers with consumption level of 100 kWh and below.

Meralco has a total of about PhP2.1 billion cash refund to this group. Said amount was computed based on the total kWh consumption from February 1994 to May 2003. The number of customers in the first phase was placed at around 2 million with total consumption of 12 billion kWh for the past 9 years.

As of August 25, 2003, Meralco has refunded a total amount of about PhP1.7 billion for some 1.5 million customers.

Phase II of the cash refund started September 1, 2003 and is expected to be completed not later than December 31, 2003. This group consists of residential and general service customers whose consumption is 101 to 300 kWh as of April 2003.

In total, Meralco has cash refund amounting to about PhP4.6 billion for this group. This amount was computed based on the total kWh consumption from February 1994 to May 2003. The total number of customers for this group is estimated at 2.3 million.

The above-mentioned figures on estimated cash refund for each phase as well as the total number of customers per customer group are still subject to validation (still on-going) by Meralco’s external auditor. Meralco shall submit to the Commission the appropriate certification upon completion of the validation process.

Earlier, Meralco submitted to ERC the detailed guidelines and procedures for processing refund for Phase II, and its refund release schedule.

The guidelines provide that registered customers of active accounts eligible for the second phase will be notified in their bills on the details of how and where to claim their refund. For terminated contracts, announcements published in newspapers of general circulation will advise customers to contact Meralco thru the Refund Hotline (1622-8888) in order to confirm if they are qualified for refund.

Meralco also requested ERC for an extension of time for the submission of the proposed procedures for the implementation of Phases III and IV of the refund scheme, together with the total amount involved for each phase. The power distributor said that it expects to complete the plan by early November 2003.

Meralco reasoned that it “plans to undertake consultations with the affected customers, particularly the large commercial and industrial customers, to arrive at an implementation period that will be reasonable to both the customers and to Meralco, particularly in the light of the cash flow problems that Meralco is faced with.”

ERC is set to immediately issue an Order on Meralco’s motion for extension of time.

September 11, 2003