The Energy Regulatory Commission provisionally approved the power supply agreement application of Manila Electric Co. with Solar Philippines Tarlac Corp. for up to 85 megawatts at a price P2.99 per kilowatt-hour.
“Meralco and SPTC are hereby granted interim relief provisionally authorizing them to implement their power purchase agreement,” ERC said in its order.
ERC said SPTC’s offer was the lowest offered to Meralco among other similar plants. The regulator, however, said the approval was subject to certain conditions such as the rate should not be subject to adjustment or escalation.
ERC said it still needed to verify the basis for the 2-percent escalation factor under the proposed PSA.
It said the approved generation rate “is inclusive of the transmission cost or the cost of their dedicated point-to- point facilities, thus the same cannot be adjusted upward when they file with the ERC for approval of its dedicated point-to-point facilities.”
ERC also directed Meralco to submit the monthly generation rate calculation.