The Energy Regulatory Commission cleared the power supply contracts between by the power unit of San Miguel Corp. and two electric cooperatives in Mindanao involving the 300-megawatt output of the company’s coal-fired plant in Malita, Davao.
ERC, in separate orders, approved the application of San Miguel Consolidated Power Corp.’s for interim relief to implement a power supply contract with Misamis Oriental 1 Rural Electric Service Cooperative Inc. and Siargao Electric Cooperative Inc.
San Miguel asked the commission to grant the authority to bill the electric cooperatives at the contracted rates provided in their power supply contracts and authorize them to pass on the rates to their consumers.
ERC said the approved petitions would remain subject to certain conditions such as submission of costs incurred during the commissioning period and audited and verified by a third party.
“The interim relief of the PSC is without prejudice to any findings of the commission in its evaluation of SMCPC’s application for certificate of compliance,” ERC said.
“The interim rate prayed for by way of interim relief is the most competitive amongst the recently approved power supply agreements of generation companies in the Mindanao grid,” the company said.
San Miguel offered a net rate of P4.3383 per kilowatt-hour compared to other players with offered rates ranging from P4.6939 per kWh to P5 per kWh.
San Miguel asked the ERC to approve the petition in the wake of frequent power interruption in the franchise areas of Siarelco and Moresco I.
San Miguel said that without the ERC approval, the electric cooperatives would be exposed to higher rates from other suppliers .
San Miguel, one of the country’s most aggressive power players, is building the 300-MW circulating fluidized bed coal-fired thermal power plant in Barangay Caluman, Malita, Davao Occidental with a project cost of P27 billion.