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THE
Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), the country’s biggest
power distributor, on Tuesday called “irresponsible” the
statements said by the Government Service Insurance
Service (GSIS) spokesperson, who said that the power
company has admitted before Congress that Meralco had
committed a highway robbery.
“No such
admission was made by the company. We have nothing of
that sort to admit. It is not true that Meralco engages
in highway robbery,” Elpi Cuna, Meralco vice president
for corporate communication, said.
Cuna
said if GSIS spokesperson, lawyer Estrella Elamparo,
would just look at the cost of power from Meralco’s
suppliers, transmission costs included, “she would see
that Meralco’s independent power producers [IPPs]
provide our customers low rates, especially if they are
dispatched at contract or minimum energy quantity
levels.”
On the
issue of ghost power deliveries, Cuna suggested that
Elamparo study the facts first before simply repeating
the accusations of some congressmen. He pointed out that
from November 2000 to December 2001, when the alleged
ghost deliveries were made, it was covered by a letter
of agreement (LOA) between National Power Corp. (Napocor)
and Meralco.
The LOA
was the solution offered by the Department of Energy and
Napocor to address the issue of “access to Napocor’s
transmission system” and in order to provide the “least
cost to the consumers.”
Under
the LOA, Napocor, which was both in generation and
transmission, will not dispatch energy from First Gas
Sta. Rita plant unless extremely necessary and, instead,
the energy that Meralco would need would be supplied by
Napocor at a discounted rate.
Since
the plant’s full 1,000-megawatt (MW) capacity was
already available by August 17, 2000, per the contract,
the fixed cost payments to Sta. Rita would have to be
paid, thus the fixed cost payment of P9.58 billion.
Energy
fees, based on actual dispatch by Napocor to Sta. Rita,
at P3.34 billion were also paid to First Gas.
“As a
lawyer, Elamparo should be familiar with the terms of
these IPP contracts, either entered into by Napocor or
by the distribution utilities like Meralco, which the
ERB [Energy Regulatory Board] approved and which ERC
[Energy Regulatory Commission], subsequently in an order
dated February 24, 2003, found [to have] ‘no valid
reasons or even legal basis to invalidate,’” said Cuna.
“Our
customers can be rest assured that all the company’s
dealings are aboveboard. Meralco has even recently
received an award from the Institute of Corporate
Directors citing the company for good corporate
governance,” he said.
The
award, given by the Securities and Exchange Commission,
the Philippine Stock Exchange and the
Ateneo Law School,
recognized the transparency and public disclosure
practices of publicly listed companies in the country,
Cuna said.
“Perhaps, this GSIS spokesperson should first train her
sights on the issues being raised by the very members of
the pension fund agency she represents, whose interests
apparently are being neglected and [whose] rights being
denied,” he said. |
