Despite the controversy surrounding Meralco's seven power supply contracts totaling 3,551mw that it negotiated with sister company Meralco PowerGen, despite the Office of the Ombudsman suspending the offending Commissioners as a result, and despite a case still pending in the Supreme Court, the ERC continued plodding along the hearings on the Atimonan One project. Attempts of consumer groups to either intervene or oppose the application were essentially set aside. The Department of Energy itself suggested that the seven (7) Meralco PSA should be subjected to a competitive selection process.