03 Feb 2020
The Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM) will cease collecting the PHP0.0543 per kWh Universal Charge for Stranded Contract Costs (UC-SCC) effective February 2020. This is a relief to power consumers all over the country as they are no longer going to be charged the UC-SCC. This translates to a reduction of PHP5.43 for every 100 kWh of electricity consumption.
PSALM has started advising electricity distribution and collecting utilities to terminate the implementation of the UC-SCC. It will be recalled that in the decision of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) dated 10 April 2019 in Case No. 2015-139-RC, PSALM was permitted to recover PHP5,117,060,647.80 through the aforementioned UC-SCC. Based on the computation of PSALM, this recoverable amount could already be covered by the UC-SCC imposed in the January 2020 billing period.
The Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) defines UC-SCC as the “excess of the contracted cost of electricity under eligible contracts over the actual selling price of the contracted energy.” The UC-SCC charges were intended to pay the remaining financial obligations that the government incurred due to the construction of new power plants to alleviate the power shortages in the 1990s and early 2000.
Strategic Communications and Partnership Division |