WESM operator to oversee open access

Manila Times.net
Published : Thursday, March 01, 2012 00:00 Written by : Euan Paulo C. Añonuevo


THE Department of Energy (DOE) has designated the Philippine Electricity Spot Market Corp. (PEMC) as the lead body that will oversee open access and retail competition transactions in the power sector.


The DOE, in particular, assigned PEMC as central registration body (CRB) for open access under department circular 2012-02-0002.


PEMC is the state-administered agency that operates the WESM, a trading platform for electricity between power generators and large-scale customers such as distribution utilities and industries that bases prices on market conditions.


As CRB, PEMC will “undertake the development and management of the required systems and processes and information technology system that shall the be capable of handling customer switching and information exchange among retail electricity market participants, as well as their transactions in the [WESM].”


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). Under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 (EPIRA), open access will commence once state-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) privatizes 70 percent of the generating capacity of Napocor as well as its contracts with third-party power generators.


PSALM breached the privatization threshold last year but regulators opted to defer the implementation of open access, which was supposed to kick off last Dec. 26, 2011, up to the third quarter of the year to give the industry additional time to put up the required infrastructure and systems.


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.