Meralco says it won't pass 'Basyang' losses to customers

MANILA, Philippines - Power utility giant Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) will not pass on to customers the losses it incurred from typhoon Basyang.

Meralco chief operating officer Oscar Reyes said the company may be charging the damages from the said typhoon amounting to P31.22 million to their insurance expenses.

Reyes also explained that there are rules by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) that stipulate a certain of amount before a distribution utility (DU) can pass on costs to consumers.

“Under the DWRG (distribution wheeling rates guidelines), there is this hurdle rates, if it’s higher than the hurdle rates then you can recover that from your customers. That’s supposed to be 0.25 percent of your MAR (maximum allowable revenue). Other than that we cannot. It has not met the hurdle rate and we made the computation and it should be P495 million, I think,” Ricardo Buencamino, Meralco executive vice president, said.

The second half of the year started with the severe power disruption caused by typhoon Basyang in the Meralco franchise area.

Reyes recalled that the destructive typhoon caused multiple trippings to the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) facilities, prompting the latter to declare red alert status.

He said the situation worsened when four of NGCP’s five transmission highways linking the North and South Luzon grids tripped out.

“Shortly after midnight of July 14, the remaining highway, Sucat-Araneta 23-kilovolt line also tripped out, triggering a total system collapse,” he said.

According to Reyes, at the peak of typhoon Basyang, a total of 44,000 calls were handled by Meralco call center which, on a normal day, would receive an average of about 4,000 calls.

“With our size and commitment as a private distribution utility, our skilled and seasoned networks personnel began power restoration after the Kalayaan Unit 4 in the south and Binga, and Magat hydroelectric power plants in the north were put on-line,” he said.

He said “Meralco cleared the lines and energized circuits serving vital installations, including Malacañang and major industrial estates. Power was fully restored in all Meralco distribution circuits less than 36 hours later.”

Meralco president and CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan, for his part, said efforts to quickly respond to calamity-related matters would continue to be intensified.

“Our ability to respond to challenges from the scale and strength of our company supported by a committed and tested team, focused on serving customers and communities within our franchise area,” he said.