MANILA Electric Co (Meralco), the Lopez-owned power utility, yesterday started refunding meter deposits as ordered by the Energy Regulatory Commission last June.

Meralco said it will start from the lowest consumption bracket, or the residential, to the heavy consumers or corporate accounts.

First in line are residential customers who paid the meter deposit from 1987 to 2004.

They will be followed by those in the bigger consumption bracket and then qualified non-residential customers.

"The total amount that we’re looking at is around P1.5 billion on the refund and P1.3 billion on the interest rate," Roberto Almazora, Meralco first vice president and head of customer retail services, said.

"This has a total of P2.8 billion, something that will change in time because of the interest rate."

The average refund a Meralco consumer could get, including the interest, is P800.