Members of the House Joint Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability and on Energy on Monday have decided to conclude their investigation on the alleged “midnight deals” between Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) and the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) after six hearings.
For Bayan Muna Party-list Rep. Carlos Zarate, whose House Resolution (HR) No.566 initiated the investigation, the hearings have already established the ERC clearly favored the power supply agreements affiliated with Meralco.
“We were able to establish that when they issued a clarificatory resolution, that particular resolution actually gave Meralco an advantage because they facilitated Meralco doon sa 7 agreements nila,” he told ABS-CBN News.
Zarate said it’s no wonder consumer groups are protesting because there seems to be a selective application of the rules in favor of accommodation. Zarate said the ERC kept on extending the deadline to accommodate the Meralco PSAs.
“They said as long as you’re inside the office by 5 p.m., you’re still accommodated,” he said, questioning why the ERC still accepted applications beyond the April 29, 5 p.m. deadline.
On April 29, 2016, Meralco filed separate applications for approval of PSAs with the following power generation companies: Redondo Peninsula Energy, Inc. (RPE) with 225-MW, Atimonan One Energy, Inc. (A1E) 1,200-MW, St. Raphael Power Generation Corp. (SRPGC) 400-MW, Central Luzon Premiere Power Corp. (CLPPC) 528-MW, Mariveles Power Generation Corp. (MPGC) 528-MW, Panay Energy Devt. Corp. (PEDC) 70-MW, and Global Luzon Energy Devt. Corp. (GLEDC) 600-MW.
Zarate had earlier criticized the ERC for issuing Resolution No. 1 series of 2016 which extended the deadline for all distribution companies to conduct a competitive selection process (CSP) in power supply procurement to April 30, 2016.
The deadline was originally set for November 6, 2015 but was “mysteriously” moved to April 30, 2016, Zarate said.
The lawmaker considered these as “midnight deals,” having been signed only four days before the “new [and] generous” deadline set by the ERC.
Meralco has denied having midnight deals with the ERC, noting that its 7 bilateral power contracts that were probed by the House panel have yet to be approved by regulators.
The House Joint Committee hopes to come up with a report on the recently-concluded hearings in the coming weeks.