Open access for power set for Q3

Manila Times.net
Published : Monday, January 23, 2012 00:00 Written by : EUAN PAULO C. AÑONUEVO REPORTER


THE Department of Enery (DOE) expects open access and retail competition in the power generation sector to commence by the third quarter of the year.


Jose Rene Almendras, DOE secretary, said that the government plans to push through with open access within the year.


As scheduled, [open access will start] third quarter of 2012. [We are] on schedule [and have] discussed this with the Joint Congressional Power Commission [JCPC] the target [and] a timeline of activities that has to happen,” he added.


Mandated under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 (EPIRA), open access will allow qualified consumers to choose their own power suppliers instead of the present practice of distribution utilities sourcing electricity on their behalf.


The scheme aims to spur competition in the power generation sector, which was once controlled by state-owned National Power Corp. (Napocor).


Almendras chief said that the DOE and the JCPC, the body tasked to oversee the implementation of the EPIRA, will meet soon to discuss the timetable for the implementation of open access.


The DOE plans to tap state-administered Philippine Electric Market Corp., operator of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market, to handle the settlement of transactions between power suppliers and customers once open access starts.


The department, however, will bid out the necessary computer systems for open access to software companies.


“I want the infrastructure, the system, the process, the procedures to be so unquestionable as far as integrity is concerned. Otherwise, we’ll never hear, all we’re going be doing is just reconciling issues between buyer and seller. That’s why I want it to be robust,” Almendras said.


He said that the government has allocated a budget for the necessary infrastructure that needs to be put into place before power suppliers are allowed to directly market their output to consumers.


“We already approved that [at] the Cabinet level, the allocation. It is not a big amount, it is something we can afford to pay for,” Almendras added. The Energy Regulatory Commission earlier set December 26 as the date for the implementation of open access after the last precondition set under the EPIRA, the privatization of at least 70 percent of Napocor’s power assets in Luzon and Visayas, was met by the government. However, distribution utilities sued for more time to develop the needed systems for accounting, billing and settlement of transactions under such a set-up.


The EPIRA states that the introduction of open access will be gradual, starting first with end-users with a 12-month average demand of at least one-megawatt. The coverage will then be expanded over the succeeding years until it reaches the household level.