By Myrna M. Velasco
Published: June 26, 2013
Once a contestable customer (CC) under the open access regime will already switch to a competitive retail electricity supplier (RES), a policy has been set that such end-user can no longer go back to the regulated service of a distribution utility.
Under Resolution No. 11 promulgated by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) last June 10, it was prescribed that “if a CC decides to move from the regulated service of a DU come June 26, 2013 or to enter into RSC (retail supply contract) with a RES, such CC shall no longer be allowed to revert to the DU’s regulated service.”
The June 26, 2013 timeline is the designated commercial kick-off of the long-awaited retail competition and open access (RCOA) in the restructured electricity sector.
In the information campaign video being shown by the Department of Energy, the RCOA regime promises to give consumers “the power of choice” compared to what the government labeled as “one-sided love affair” that the consumers had with their serving distribution utilities.
Contestable customers are those belonging to the electricity usage bracket that could qualify for open access. Initially, it will be at 1.0-megawatt average peak demand within the cycle or period prescribed under the rules.
When an open access participant decides to leave its servicing utility, the ERC has directed that the customer must advise the DU of such move “at least 60 days prior to the effectivity of its RSC with RES.”
And when that CC encounters a “last resort supply event”, it can still tap other options, such as cornering a “supplier of last resort” (SOLR) service which may also be with a distribution utility within the service area of its operations.
The others will be for these CCs to source supply from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM); generate their own electricity; or seek disconnection from a DU service.
In the interim when many of the contestable customers are still not comfortable negotiating for their RSCs, the ERC rules allow them to stay with their servicing DUs until the next six months.
“A CC that fails to enter into an RSC by June 25, 2013 shall be deemed to stay with its current DU until December 25, 2013,” the regulatory body has averred. source
Under Resolution No. 11 promulgated by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) last June 10, it was prescribed that “if a CC decides to move from the regulated service of a DU come June 26, 2013 or to enter into RSC (retail supply contract) with a RES, such CC shall no longer be allowed to revert to the DU’s regulated service.”
The June 26, 2013 timeline is the designated commercial kick-off of the long-awaited retail competition and open access (RCOA) in the restructured electricity sector.
In the information campaign video being shown by the Department of Energy, the RCOA regime promises to give consumers “the power of choice” compared to what the government labeled as “one-sided love affair” that the consumers had with their serving distribution utilities.
Contestable customers are those belonging to the electricity usage bracket that could qualify for open access. Initially, it will be at 1.0-megawatt average peak demand within the cycle or period prescribed under the rules.
When an open access participant decides to leave its servicing utility, the ERC has directed that the customer must advise the DU of such move “at least 60 days prior to the effectivity of its RSC with RES.”
And when that CC encounters a “last resort supply event”, it can still tap other options, such as cornering a “supplier of last resort” (SOLR) service which may also be with a distribution utility within the service area of its operations.
The others will be for these CCs to source supply from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM); generate their own electricity; or seek disconnection from a DU service.
In the interim when many of the contestable customers are still not comfortable negotiating for their RSCs, the ERC rules allow them to stay with their servicing DUs until the next six months.
“A CC that fails to enter into an RSC by June 25, 2013 shall be deemed to stay with its current DU until December 25, 2013,” the regulatory body has averred. source
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