LAOAG CITY — Officials and residents of Ilocos Norte are seeking clarification on why electric consumers will have to shoulder Php327 million losses, which the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines incurred as a result of a past typhoon, and which the company plans to pass on to its customers in Luzon.
The Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP or Provincial Board) of Ilocos Norte has passed a resolution, sponsored by the committee of the whole, asking the management of NGCP to make a full disclosure of its request to the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) for a provisional approval of the collection of the force majeure pass-through costs from its clients.
This shall take effect this 2018 up to 2020 or until the amount is fully recovered.
Vice Governor Eugenio Angelo Marcos Barba said Friday that “electric consumers here needed to be enlightened on the need for them to shoulder the costs that NCGP incurred from the damages caused by typhoon Nina in December 2016."
When sought for comment, Lilibeth Gaydowen, corporate communications and public affairs officer of NGCP, explained that under the rules for the setting of transmission wheeling rates, the NGCP is allowed to recover the expenses it incurred from typhoon damages as it is considered as "force majeure" or an unavoidable incident.
Once approved by the ERC, a total amount of PHP327,520,000 will be collected from end-consumers on installment basis.
But before the pass-on charges take effect, the ERC is expected to call for a public hearing and invite all local government units concerned to participate.
“The NGCP is open to a dialogue. During the typhoon Nina, there were minor damages in Ilocos Norte but NGCP incurred damages Luzon-wide. It’s like a spider web, when one is broken, it affects the whole,” said Gaydowen, adding that “it all depends on the ERC on what computation to follow.”
She assured consumers the NGCP has no right to recover the amount without the approval of the ERC.
To recover the losses, the grid operator will have to charge an additional PHP0.83 per kilowatt hour (kwh) a month in 2018, PHP0.86 per kwh a month in 2019, and PHP0.90 per kwh a month in 2020.
Earlier, the provincial board of Benguet filed a resolution blocking the request of the NGCP to the ERC to allow the collection of more than PHP327 million from Luzon consumers.
The said amount was used for the repair of transmission lines damaged by typhoon "Nina" almost two years ago. (PNA)
