Partnership for power consumers’ gain

In photo: Meralco’s President and CEO Atty. Ray C. Espinosa (5th from left) with (left to right) Jose Ferlino P. Raymundo of SPPC; Herman B. Timoteo of Phinma; Elenita D. Go, SPPC’s General Manager; John Eric T. Francia, Phinma’s President and CEO; Mario Marasigan, DOE Director for Electric Power Industry and Management Bureau; Victor Emmanuel B. Santos Jr., First Gen Hydro’s President and Chief Operating Officer; Ronnie L. Aperocho, Meralco’s Senior Vice President and Head of Networks; Dennis Michael P. Gonzales, First Gen Hydro’s Vice President; and Victor S. Genuino, Meralco’s First Vice President and Head of Customer Retail Services and Corporate Communications.

Manila Electric Company signed power supply agreements (PSA) with partners First Gen Hydro Power Corp., Phinma Energy Corp. and South Premiere Power Corp. (SPPC) for the supply of 500 MW mid-merit capacity for five years starting December 2019.

The PSAs were awarded to the three winning bidders in accordance with the Department of Energy Circular which required distribution utilities (DUs) to procure power through Competitive Selection Process.

According to Meralco President & CEO Ray Espinosa, “The resulting prices from the CSP are significantly lower than average generation cost today and are expected to save consumers PhP 4.4 billion annually for the next five years.

“This is Meralco’s second successful round of CSP, after successfully signing 1,200 MW of baseload capacity last September 13. During the signing, Department of Energy Director Mario Marasigan said, “Indeed the winners for this activity are actually the Meralco consumers,” also expressing optimism that the success of the Meralco CSPs will be replicated to subsequent biddings.