FGen seeks nod to extend deal with Meralco

Lopez-led First Gen Corporation, via its subsidiary First Gas Power Corporation, is seeking approval from the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) for the extension of its power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) covering its 1,000-megawatt Santa Rita gas-fired plant, situated in Batangas.

- By MYRNA M. VELASCO

In a May 22, 2025 letter to the ERC obtained by the Manila Bulletin, the Lopez firm sought that “the PPA may be extended without the conduct of a CSP (competitive selection process)”, pursuant to Article 2.2 of the PPA that was signed between First Gas and Meralco on Jan. 9, 1997.

First Gas reckoned that the power supply deal extension for its Santa Rita plant gas plant could be excluded from the CSP exercise or the auction of power supply agreements (PSAs) by distribution utilities (DUs) because that specified PPA secured regulatory approval way back in 1997, which was long before the enforcement of the CSP policy by the Department of Energy (DOE) and that the mandate of the Supreme Court (SC) ruling on supply contracts requiring CSP for PSAs cover only the PSA applications that had been submitted to the ERC “on or after June 30, 2015.”