Manila Electric Co., the biggest retailer of electricity, has asked the Energy Regulatory Commission to approve a capital expenditure program of around P15 billion for 2017.
Meralco, in an application filed with the ERC on March 4, sought a provisional authority to implement the capital expenditure program covering July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2017 pending a hearing.
“It is emphasized that Meralco has no approved capex projects by the start of the fourth regulatory period on July 1, 2015 and this will severely hamper its operations and affect its ability to deliver electricity service to its customers,” it said.
Meralco said it was imperative for the company to undertake expansion and rehabilitation of its network facilities through the acquisition of new assets to ensure compliance with safety, performance and other regulatory requirements and address the growing needs of 5.78 million customers.
The company said the petition was also without prejudice to the subsequent filing by Meralco of any unforecasted or emergency capex as the need arose.
Meralco said its 2017 capex program considered the projects filed during the third regulatory period and for 2016.It said the capital spending aimed to provide superior service to costumrs through a reliable, efficient and viable distribution network.
Meralco has lined up projects to meet the projected growth of future electricity demand within the franchise area.
The company said its capex program for 2017 was a continuation of regulatory year 2016 and mainly driven by the need for infrastructure to meet growth in peak demand and connections, repair of projects and in support of the government’s government public-private partnership initiatives.
These include the P2-billion budget for the advanced metering infrastructure, P1.7 billion for distribution transformers, P443 million for the development of the Makati 115 kV substation, P457 million for the San Mateo 115 kV substation and expansion of the Tayabas 230 kV delivery point substation.
Meralco sought approval of a capital expenditure budget amounting to P17.5 billion to P18 billion for 2016, but has not received any response from the ERC.
ERC, instead, allowed Meralco put up infrastructure and other facilities under an emergency capex program amounting to just P9 billion to P10 billion.