October 20, 2016
The chairman of the
Senate Committee on Energy said on Thursday there is no need to rush the
implementation of a provision of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira)
of 2001 that seeks to transform the Philippine Electricity Market Corp. (PEMC)
into an independent market operator (IMO).
“I think there’s no
sense of urgency for them [PEMC] to become [an] IMO. It’s functioning the way
it is right now. Kaya
gusto lang natin maging IMO is
para walang interference [Noninterference precedes the need for an
IMO transformation],” according Sen. Sherwin T. Gatchalian.
Under Epira, PEMC is
supposed to last for only one year, and would transition into an IMO. So far,
PEMC has existed for 12 years now.
PEMC is the operator of
the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), the country’s trading floor for
electricity.
“I
think we have time to evaluate that. I have to look at it closely, but my sense
there is there’s no rush to look at that,” Gatchalian added.
The Department of
Energy (DOE) earlier issued a draft circular that sets the guidelines for
the transition.
The transfer of the
WESM to the IMO is also meant to dispel concerns of continuing government
intervention at the WESM.
Currently, the PEMC
board is a 15-man body made up of representatives from each sector of the
electric power industry, as well as independent members.
The PEMC Board
is chaired by the DOE secretary until its transition into an IMO.
Based on the draft
circular, the composition of the seven-member IMO Board includes an economist,
academician, finance expert, lawyer, engineer, governance member and the
president of the IMO.
The economist shall
hold office for one year; the academician and lawyer member for two years; the
finance member for three years; and the engineer and governance member
for four years,
The current PEMC
president shall carry over to be the IMO president for one year to ensure
smooth transition. The president shall be selected every two years.
The economist has to
have a five-year experience in a management position related to financial or
spot markets, while the academic has to have a doctorate degree and has held a
two-year senior academic position in a college or university related to
economics or science.
The finance person,
meanwhile, has to have more than five years’ experience in senior management
position in trading in a financial market.
The lawyer should be a
senior partner in a law firm of a size of a 15 or more lawyers, or who has held
a position as a government lawyer and who has engaged in litigation and
appealed in trial courts.
The engineer has to have
an expertise in the operation of the transmission or generation systems for
more than two years at a senior management level, and has more than 10 years’
experience working in an energy-related field.
The governance members
has to have a directorship position in a publicly listed company or a private
corporation with a size over 50 full-time workers.
The president, on the
other hand, should have a minimum of five years’ experience in the
electric-power industry.
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