Power giants’ $3.3-B deal up for review anew
The Philippine Competition Commissions’ (PCC approval of a $3.3-billion deal between power giants will trigger a review of two energy supply deals, according to the chief of the industry regulator.
In a briefing on Monday, Energy Regulatory Commission chair and chief executive officer Monalisa Dimalanta said they would assess again the power supply agreements of Manila Electric Co. with Excellent Energy Resources Inc. (Eeri) and South Premiere Power Corp. once they receive official copies of the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) decision.
Eeri and South Premiere are both subsidiaries of San Miguel Global Power Holdings (SMGP).
Last December, the PCC gave its green light to the transaction involving Meralco PowerGen Corp. (MGen), Aboitiz Power Corp., and SMGP.
Under their agreement, MGen, the power generation arm of Meralco, and AboitizPower would jointly invest in SMGP’s 1,278-megawatt (MW) Ilijan gas-fired power plant and the new 1,320-MW facility, which is owned by Eeri.
The three groups will then acquire nearly 100 percent of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) import and regasification terminal owned by Linseed Field Power Corp., a local unit of global infrastructure firm Atlantic, Gulf & Pacific Co.
“We’ll need to revisit our decision because we need to ensure that whoever the PCC has determined to be in control of — there are two sets of assets here — the two power plants and the terminal,” Dimalanta told reporters.
“So, whoever will end up controlling them, we will need to revisit on the power plant side compliance with our market share limitations,” she added.
