#Meralco refund

The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has given an order directed to Manila Electric Company (Meralco) to refund its customer for over PHP 21.8 billion of distribution-related charges. Covering the period of July 2015 to June 2022, the 72-page decision pegged the distribution-related charges at PHP 21,769,496,221 or an average refund rate of P0.4790 per kWh. "We wanted to ensure that all over-recoveries shall be refunded complete with interest," she added. Thus, the current total refund rate—including the latest refund order—now amounts to PHP P1.8009/kWh—about PHP 360 refund for residential customers who consume 200kWh. On the other hand, Meralco said it would act in accordance with the ERC's decision, and that the latest refund would be implemented on the next billing cycle (July 2022) from Meralco's receipt of cited decision. We are currently studying the order so we can start reflecting this in the power bills this month,"  Meralco vice president and head of corporate communications, Joe Zaldarriaga said in a statement. “While we have yet to receive suppliers billings, there is a possibility that the refund can offset the expected increase in generation charge and lead to a reduction in the overall power rates for July," he added. The ERC said Meralco's earlier refunds will be implemented until 2023. Read more in our articles including "ERC orders Meralco to refund distribution-related charges amounting to Php21.8B" and "ERC orders Meralco to refund PHP 1.4B-worth of over collections".