SAN Miguel Corp. (SMC) said Tuesday that the Supreme Court had officially dismissed the Energy Regulatory Commission’s (ERC) motion for reconsideration regarding a high court ruling overturning the regulator’s decision to deny the rate hike petition of San Miguel Global Power Holdings Corp.’s business units.
In a disclosure, SMC said that it had received from the legal counsels of South Premiere Power Corp. (SPPC) and San Miguel Energy Corp. (now Sual Power Inc. or SPI) a copy of a First Division resolution denying, with finality, the ERC’s motion for reconsideration of an August 3 Supreme Court ruling as well its prayer for the issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) and/or writ of preliminary injunction to stop the firms from terminating their 1,000-megawatt (MW) 10-year power supply agreements (PSAs) with Manila Electric Co. (Meralco).
“Acting on the Office of the Solicitor General’s motion for reconsideration of the resolution dated April 3, 2024, which denied the petition for review of certiorari, and considering that there is no substantial argument to warrant a modification of this Court’s decision, it has decided to resolve to further deny reconsideration with finality,” the resolution states.
“Accordingly, the prayer for issuance of a TRO and/or a writ of preliminary injunction is denied due to lack of merit. No further pleadings, motions, letters or other communications shall be entertained herein.”
On Oct. 12, 2019, SPPC and SPI asked the ERC to issue a provisional authority for the PSAs, covering 670 MW for the former and 330 MW for the latter. The firms had been declared winners in a competitive selection process conducted by Meralco in September that year.
On May 11, 2022, SPPC and SPI filed a joint motion for a price adjustment, seeking the ERC’s approval to increase the contract price to allow them to recover incremental fuel costs for the January 2022 to May 2022 billing periods due to a “change of circumstances.”
The denied the motion in September 2022, leading to the firms filing for a TRO and ultimately terminating the supply deals with Meralco. Both business units and other related parties continued filing motions with the court for about two years, leading to the Supreme Court issuing its latest decision.
ERC Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Monalisa Dimalanta said her agency was consulting with the Office of the Solicitor General as they have not yet received a copy of the high court ruling.
SMC shares on Tuesday fell P1.20, or 1.23 percent, to P96 apiece.
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