Meralco, Napocor, Transco ink MOA on big users’ discount

The Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), National Power Corp. (Napocor) and the National Transmission Corp. (Transco) have signed a tripartite agreement to implement the Special Program to Enhance Electricity Demand (SPEED).

The program offers a 50-centavo per kilowatthour (Kwh) discount to some 900 industrial and commercial customers of Meralco.

The signing of the agreement came after almost eight months of deliberation on how to implement the discount scheme. The SPEED project, which initially intended to offer as much as 80-centavo per kWh rate cut on incremental usage of big industries, is part of a 10-point agenda as announced by President Arroyo to bring down power rates last July.

Sources said Napocor decided to lower the discount to only 50 centavos due to the increased fuel costs over the past months.

The discount will be shouldered by Napocor (40 centavos) and the National Transmission Corp. (10 centavos).

SPEED, a joint project of Napocor, the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Energy, intends to give preferential rates to industries and power-intensive commercial users.

The first phase of the program is open to industries with a minimum load of 1,000 kilowatts while the second phase will open the program to industries with a load of at least 500 kW.

The discount will only apply to consumption in excess of what is called customer baseline load. SPEED encourages power-intensive industries to extend production hours and shift schedules to encourage more use of electricity that will, in turn, stir economic activity and wipe out unutilized capacities.

Among the industries still capable of expanding operations are electronics, garments, and semiconductors.

Napocor’s directly-connected industrial customers, private distribution utilities, and rural electric cooperatives can also avail of a special discount under SPEED.

Napocor officials said SPEED will also allow large users of electricity to avail of discounts by entering into short-term supply contracts with state-owned power firm or their franchised distributor with duration of at least one month.

Direct-connected industries to Napocor and those participating in the ODPS (one-day power sales) are expected to avail of the program. These are large steel, cement, electronics, garments, food and beverage, manufacturing and other power-intensive industries. – Donnabelle Gatdula