Meralco signs power supply agreements with partners for consumers’ gain

MANILA, Philippines — Manila Electric Company (Meralco) signed power supply agreements with partners First Gen Hydro Power Corp., Phinma Energy Corp. and South Premiere Power Corp. 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 to procure power through Competitive Selection Process (CSP).

"The resulting prices from the CSP are significantly lower than average generation cost today and are expected to save consumers P 4.4 billion annually for the next five years," said Ray Espinosa, Meralco president and CEO.

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.” He also expressed optimism that the success of the Meralco CSPs will be replicated to subsequent biddings.