By Alena Mae S. Flores Posted on Dec. 05, 2012 at 12:01am
Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. will likely extend the transition supply contract of Manila Electric Co. with National Power Corp. by another two months, an official said Tuesday.
“It will be discussed by the board but we’re looking to extend until February. Two months extension only [but] it will be taken up by the board,” PSALM president Emmanuel Ledesma Jr. told reporters. PSALM manages the assets and liabilities of state-owned Napocor.
PSALM earlier extended Meralco’s transition supply contract with Napocor until Dec. 26 this year, or three months after the implementation of retail competition and open access, whichever comes first.
Meralco purchases a large portion of its power requirements from Napocor through the transition supply contracts.
Open access allows large power users to choose their own suppliers and is expected to bring down rates of large customers due to market competition.
The ERC has set the initial implementation of the open access regime on Dec. 26, which signals the start of the six-month transition. A trial run will be in place by March 26 with the full implementation set on June 26, 2013.
Meralco asked PSALM for a six-month extension of the transition supply contract covering 320 megawatts to coincide with the full implementation of open access by June.
Meralco’s transition supply contract originally ended on Dec. 26, 2011. It was extended for another year on the concerns of industries and large power users. source
No comments:
Post a Comment