Corporate Rationality and NGOs Irrationality in Electricity Pricing

Last week and this week, there were a number of important developments in the Philippine electricity sector.

- Bienvenido S. Oplas Jr.

On April 10, Power for People Coalition (P4P) released a statement titled, "ERC nod on Meralco power deal slammed, looming power monopoly questioned."

On April 11, Meralco announced an upward adjustment of P0.723/kWh in the April electricity rate; the overall rate was P13.013/kWh this month, from P12.290/kWh last March.

Also on April 11, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) acted quickly and certified the Panay Energy Development Corp. (PEDC) Unit 3 for regulating reserve.

Possibly after they read this column the day before, where PEDC 3 was mentioned, "Declining global energy prices and Philippines electricity pricing" (April 10).

On April 13, Northern Davao Electric Cooperative Inc. (NORDECO) announced they would go to the Supreme Court to challenge a new law (RA 12144) that allows Davao Light and Power Co. (DLPC) to operate in additional areas under NORDECO's area.

On April 14, the Department of Energy (DOE) conducted a press conference about Meralco's competitive selection process (CSP) with Excellent Energy Resources Inc. (EERI) gas plant.

We go straight to the facts about those five developments.

On the P4P statement, they blame the following for the power rate increase in April 2025: "power supply agreements (PSAs) between Meralco and Meralco-owned generation companies (gencos) despite the potential increase in power rates, questions over anti-competitive practices... With these PSAs, Meralco's right hand just agreed with its left hand to empty the pockets of consumers."

These are emotional and juvenile statements from a typical NGO. Here are the facts.