(Eagle News) — Two leftists have asked the Supreme Court to nullify what they said were the sweetheart deals entered into by Meralco with its own generating companies in 2016.
For this, Bayan Muna chair Neri Colmenares and Rep. Carlos Zarate filed a petition-in-intervention with an application for urgent relief by way of temporary restraining order and/or writ of preliminary injunction to allow them to intervene in the case originally filed by Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas, Inc. in 2017.
According to Colmenares and Zarate, the seven power supply agreements Meralco entered into with its affiliated power generating companies that “(tied) up” 3,551 megawatts, or 90 % of its supply to 20-year contracts that would cost consumers P12.44 billion a year” were “null and void” as they did not undergo the required competitive bidding process.
They said it was the Energy Regulatory Commission itself that allowed Meralco to “skirt its competitive selection process rules for buying power,” which require power distributors to get at least two offers for supply of electricity before awarding a power supply agreement.
According to Colmenares and Zarate, the ERC did this when it extended “the CSP deadline from November 2015 to April 2016.”
“We believe that some ERC officials bent backwards several times to accommodate these Meralco power deals,” they said.
“We repeat our vow to oppose these PSAs and hold officials who allow it accountable,” they said.