The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has greenlighted additional capacity to the power supply agreement (PSA) between Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), led by Manuel V. Pangilinan, and San Miguel Corp. (SMC)-led South Premiere Power Corp. (SPPC).

In a notice, the ERC said Meralco was granted approval for the additional 290-megawatts (MW) capacity, which will be subject to the same rate and conditions that were set last year.

The annual capacity fee was said to be around ₱10,620.2084 per kilowatt (kW)-year, while the annual escalating fixed operations and maintenance (O&M) fee was marked at ₱3,200/kW-year.

In the same post, the ERC held back its decision on Meralco and SPPC’s request on the PSA, which includes interim relief and confidential treatment of information.

“Given the pending issues that needed to be addressed, the resolution of the matter was deferred for further deliberation with instructions/directives issued to the relevant units,” the regulator noted.

To recall, the ERC granted provisional authority last year for Meralco’s PSA between SMC’s Ilijan natural gas plant and SPPC for a 910-MW supply at a ₱5.9282 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) base rate.

Under the previously approved PSA, SPPC was initially granted 890 to 1,200 MW of capacity to supply to Meralco, while 290 MW is already covered by a previous contract.

According to Meralco last November, about eight million customers were spared from higher summer electricity bills, as its 1,200-MW supply deal with SPPC resulted in approximately ₱10.7 billion in total savings.