The Philippines’ largest power distributor, Manila Electric Company (Meralco), has pledged to comply with a mandate from the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to return ₱9.51 billion in excess collections to its customer base.
“Meralco supports initiatives of the government to provide relief to consumers and ensure that they benefit from any approved refund as quickly and transparently as possible,” the company said in a statement on Sunday, August 2.
“As such, we will comply with the most recent directive of the ERC to implement the refund of ₱9.5 billion over a six-month period, equivalent to an average rate of ₱0.34 per kWh, with residential customers getting a refund of about ₱0.59 per kWh.”
Bill Impact and Refund Timeline
In a 28-page ruling issued on July 31, the ERC ordered Meralco to disperse exactly ₱9,506,566,556 across all customer tiers over six months. Households consuming an average of 200 kWh monthly can expect their bills to drop by approximately ₱117 per month.
ERC Chairman Francis Saturnino Juan clarified that the adjustments will begin in the billing cycle immediately following Meralco’s official receipt of the order.
The utility must maintain the refund line item until the entire sum—which includes accrued interest to compensate consumers—is fully disbursed.
Why the Excess Collections Occurred
The over-recoveries stem from rate true-ups during a lapsed regulatory window spanning January to December 2025. Lapsed periods occur when utilities charge existing tariffs while updated rate structures undergo regulatory review, sometimes resulting in gaps between collected rates and actual operational costs.
Meralco clarified that the discrepancy was an automatic result of required regulatory accounting rather than arbitrary billing adjustments.
“The refund pertains to the difference between Meralco’s Actual Weighted Average Tariff (AWAT) and its approved distribution tariff during those periods,” the company stated.
“The AWAT of Meralco was higher than the approved tariff at those times because of much higher consumption from residential customers compared to other customer classes, which drove the Meralco’s AWAT to increase,” it added.
The power firm filed petitions in 2025 and early 2026 covering these period true-ups, both of which were consolidated and approved in the ERC’s recent decision.
“This true-up mechanism is part of ERC-approved regulatory process that aims to ensure that a Distribution Utility (DU) will refund any excess tariff it may have unintentionally collected as a result of the True Up,” Meralco added.
A Pattern of Rate Adjustments
This latest ₱9.51-billion refund follows previous major rebates directed by the regulator:
- ₱40.5 Billion: Implemented between March 2021 and May 2023 for the July 2015 to June 2022 period.
- ₱20 Billion: An ongoing refund covering July 2022 to December 2024, which started in April 2025.
Meralco assured customers that, as with past rebates, the adjustment will be transparently detailed as a separate line item on monthly billing statements.