THE National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) proposes to collect from its Visayas customers additional charges for the costs it incurred in the repair and rehabilitation of its transmission assets damaged by Supertyphoon Yolanda last year.
In a filing with the Energy Regulatory Commission dated November 5, the NGCP is seeking provisional authority to implement and bill the force majeure (FM)-pass amounts starting January 2015 billing month to December 2020.
For 2015 it proposes to collect from its customers in the Visayas an additional P0.1874 per kilowatt-hour (kWh); P0.0257 per kWh in 2016; P0.0241 per kWh in 2017; P0.0227 per kWh in 2018; P0.0214 per kWh in 2019; and P0.0201 in 2020.
The NGCP said it has incurred damages worth P89.6 billion from the wrath of Yolanda last year. In relation to this, the cost NGCP incurred as additional capital expenditure (Capex) for the repair, restoration and rehabilitation of its transmission assets and other damaged facilities reached P2,569,270,320.87.
“NGCP proposes the FM-pass through amount in per kWh-month as additional network charges in the Visayas starting the billing period of January 2015 to December 2020 or until such time that the amount incurred is fully recovered,” it said in its petition.
NGCP said it needs to immediately recover these expenses. “It must be emphasized that the occurrence of the FM expense Typhoon Yolanda required massive capital infusion, thus, the recovery of which should be allowed immediately in order to avoid any financial strain in the operation of NGCP and allow the continuous provision of transmission service to the grid customers.”
NGCP said it has not recovered any amount from its industrial all-risk insurance policy as compensation for the damage and cost incurred in the repair and rehab. “Thus, it is but proper for NGCP to file the instant application to recover the cost it incurred.”
NGCP is a privately owned corporation in charge of operating, maintaining, and developing the country’s power grid. It transmits high-voltage electricity through “power superhighways” that include the interconnected system of transmission lines, towers, substations and related assets.
NGCP’s regular maintenance activities, expansion and upgrading projects aim to enhance the reliability and quality of electricity delivered to grid-connected customers like generators, distributors and large industries.