Sign in to listen to groundbreaking journalism. An objective of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 (Epira) is energy reliability, stability and quality service. This will be the baptism of fire of the DOJs new unit. By 2001, it had extended its network to include 20 cities, then added two more cities, for a total of 114 municipalities by the end of 2002. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy. The company holds the power distribution franchise for some 22 cities and 89 municipalities, including the capital city of Manila, as well as for the cities of San Juan, Las Pias, Quezon, Malabon, Makati, Caloocan, Pasay, Mandaluyong, Paranaque, and Navotas. By the early 1950s the company boasted more than 200,000 customers. Meralco is led by Chairman and CEO Manuel M. Lopez, whose family, through direct and indirect holdings, retains control of some 25 percent of the [] WebManila Electric Company (Meralco) is the largest utility in the Philippines, providing power to 4.6 million customers in 29 cities (including metropolitan Manila) and 82 municipalities. Moreover, the cross-ownership provision of EPIRA allows for vertical integration of generation and distribution, resulting in an even more monopolized structure of energy provision in this country. In 1992, First Philippine Holdings re-entered the power generation business. Instead of Meralco being a leader in transforming the energy sector, its recent history shows a preference for dirty energy from coal and fossil fuels. In the interest of fairness, allow us to set the record straight based on verifiable documents in the public domain. No such item was included. But there are more permanent solutions. Meralcos IPP contracts, including that with Quezon Power (Philippines) Ltd., were reviewed in 2002 at the height of a public uproar against supposedly onerous power deals entered into by the Ramos administration to solve the crippling 1990s energy crisis. Meralco built up a strong public transportation business in the decades leading up to World War II, building a 170-strong fleet of streetcars into the 1920s, before switching over to buses later in that decade. We hope it will come through since the people are in desperate need of a reliable anti-trust authority that will truly come down hard on the oligopolies that have brazenly gamed the energy market. Add your comment to start the conversation. The fact is, in 1978, Meralco Foundation Inc (which is not a government entity but a private foundation organized in 1973) acquired all the Meralco shares then owned by MSC on an installment basis for a total price of P872,754,365. (We saw a component that needed to be changed, and that was because of the current that passed through the component, stressing it. Meralco is still conducting its initial investigation into what exactly caused the outage. For his part, Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said authorities would continue to investigate the incident, as they had already sought help from the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) to investigate the matter. But in September 1972, a dictator imposed martial law and the company suffered many reverses. St. James Press, 2004. Demand for electricity grew strongly in the postwar era. It is now at a crossroads and its stockholders must decide to go forward to a better future more transparent and fair to its customers, ensuring a just and sustainable transition to renewable energy. Since the maintenance and operations of the MRT was privatized, the people have been suffering from breakdowns and worsening queues. It should be a source of pride for every Filipino. As deregulation takes effect, Meralco is reducing its dependence on state-owned National What are your colleagues talking about? mpany, which was Meralcos original name, has a long, one can even say glorious, history. The company changed its official name to Manila Electric Company in 1919, although keeping the Meralco corporate name. As a distribution utility, Meralco is able to choose the sources of the electricity it supplies to consumers. Learn more, Like many electricity consumers of Metro Manila, I am dreading the arrival of our latest bill from the Manila Electric Company (Meralco). WebMeralco joined this new market, backing the creation of First Private Power Corporation, building a 225 MW plant in Bauang. Technical teams are now looking further into the possible cause. The company continued to develop its diversified interests into the turn of the century. It would also effectively lessen Meralcos hold on the power industry as a monopoly and reduce incentives for overcharging consumers. Was the Energy Regulatory Commission in on the plot? The company's 100th anniversary celebrations that year were dampened somewhat, however, by a Philippines Supreme Court judgment ordering the company to pay back overcharges to customers from a four-year period. By then, the company served nearly 4 million registered customers--with a total customer population of some 19 million. The [Energy Regulatory] Board may, upon the filing of an application, petition or complaint or at any stage thereafter and without prior hearing. That is what we saw after the outage.). There is possible collusion.. Even if Meralco is not found to have been in collusion with its energy suppliers, it is, at the least, certainly guilty of gross mismanagement. Don't miss out on the latest news and information. Given the fact that the country may need a total additional capacity of 14,400 MW in the next few years, this speaks badly of the private sectors ability to meet the countrys needs under the framework of EPIRA. As a private company, Meralco is accountable to its customers, who pay expecting reliable service. Moving forward to a people-centered, sustainable power sector. One important fact in this connection is that First Gen Corp, which belongs to the Lopez Group, owns the 1000 MW Santa Rita Power Plant, one of the plants that shut down. Already the contract being signed with private contractors for the MRT, LRT train systems include provisions for immediate as well as regular fare increases, real property tax exemption, annual standby fund, payment of changes in costs of electricity, and the government will shoulder the purchase of the right of way acquisition, coaches, civil works, among other perks. Then, in 1979, the Marcos government named Napocor as the country's monopoly electrical power producer. According to the People for Power Coalition, Meralcos unpaid refunds, including interest, since 2003, amounts now to P19.126 billion. Among others, a decentralized power system is the best solution for problems that we have encountered with a company like Meralco. Meralco is a publicly-held corporation. Webresult of the globalization policies of privatization and commercialization of water. Electric distributor Meralco has also been allowed to pass on changes in the rates of power it buys. all the regulatory and adjudicatory functions covering the energy sector. He was part of a group of consumer advocates that petitioned Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to investigate possible collusion in the recent Meralco power rate hike. DVM, GMA Integrated News. In the meantime, Meralco continued to expand its distribution business, linking up a growing number of towns and cities in the metro Manila region that had been unable to keep up with the surging demand for electrical power. The second outage was at around 3:45 p.m. This landmark law that privatized energy generation, transmission, and distribution was supposed to bring about a free market in the energy sector that would lead to more efficient power distribution and lower prices. A traveler told dzBB's Ralph Obina that the first of the afternoon outages was at around 1 p.m. Espiritu said the Meralco team also had to change a system component which was stressed due to the high current. Towards this end, JCEC Chairman Sherwin Gatchalians proposed Microgrid Systems Bill, which seeks to spur microgrid development in unserved and underserved areas nationwide, could be expanded to also include franchised areas. That P10 billion is what Meralco is now trying to gouge from its more than five million consumers, with the average residential unit expected to see its bill increase by close to 900 pesos a month in the next few months. The power to grant a franchise is lodged in the legislature subject to limitations imposed by the state constitution. without the need of a court or administrative order. Thirdly, on the allegation that "Mrs. Aquino did not make them pay", Mrs. Aquino couldn't have made FPHC pay because it was, as explained above, merely reacquiring shares that were not paid for by Meralco Foundation. Oscar Lopez took the helm of a battered company, with over P1.2 B in debt. By the early 1990s, the Manila market became subjected to planned blackouts lasting up to eight hours per day and longer. Did this improve the provision of electricity? Indeed, by May 2001, the company, which had seen its request for a fee hike rejected amid a sales slump, reported a net loss of more than P 2 billion ($38 million) for 2002, prompting members of the government to call the Lopez family's management of the company into question. Its ASM is an opportune time for Meralco to make a decisive action would it maintain its business-as-usual policy and in turn expect mounting opposition from consumers, or would it finally recognize its critical role in the countrys energy transformation? Please enter your email address to join our mailing list and receive our corporate updates. However, when Marcoses were driven out of Finally, we want to take this opportunity to reiterate our public service philosophy to always strive to give our people the best service at the lowest possible price. As consumers, we often take for granted all the hard work that goes into building a great company. Any money due to the Lopezes, after paying the banks, was on a "pay when able" basis. Yet the company's electric service grew even more strongly, overtaking its public transportation operations in terms of revenues by 1915. MANILA, Philippines - The privatization of government power plants is expected to lose steam due to the highly political issues hurled against Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), the countrys largest distribution utility, the Philippine Independent Power Producers Association (PIPPA) said. Please try again. Meralco was mandated to amortize the cumulative amount of an electricity bill whose due date falls within ECQ in 4 equal monthly installments, payable in the 4 succeeding months after the end of the ECQ. Click on this image to answer. The proposition that Pecos service was unsatisfactory and therefore it had to be replaced by MORE simply does not hold water. Meralco also has started to diversify its operations in response to the deregulation of the Philippines power industry by extending into power generation, industrial construction and engineering, and other areas, including real estate development, e-commerce, and consultancy services.