By ADRIAN STEWART CO
MANILA – Monalisa Dimalanta was reinstated back as Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) chair. The Office of the Ombudsman lifted the preventive suspension order against her.
Dimalanta was previously placed under a six-month suspension without pay to avoid prejudicing the case filed by the National Association of Electricity Consumers for Reforms Inc. (NASECOR).
“After a thorough evaluation, the Office of the Ombudsman found that the ground which justified the continued imposition of the preventive suspension no longer exists and no longer necessary,” the Ombudsman said.
“This Office notes that with respondent’s filing of counter-affidavit, which to date complainant has not filed any reply, shall be deemed a waiver to file such responsive pleading and to submit additional documentary evidence,” it added.
NASECOR alleged that Dimalanta allowed Meralco to purchase electricity from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) and pass the charges on to consumers without obtaining the necessary approval from the ERC, which is a violation of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA).
In response to the case against her, Dimalanta said the buying process does not include distribution utilities asking permission from the commission.
She added the electricity market is a separate entity from the ERC and what the commission only approves of is the pricing methodology./PN
