The meeting, according to sources was attended by Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho L. Petilla and Energy Undersecretary Raul Aguilos along with the Department of Energy (DOE) lawyers; and Philippine Electricity Market Corporation (PEMC) president Melinda L. Ocampo and her lawyers. The ERC Commissioners with Chairperson Zenaida G. Cruz-Ducut were also in attendance.
The tripartite body reportedly firmed up the preliminary report on the outcome of their investigation on the alleged collusion which happened during the month-long shutdown of the Malampaya gas-fired power facility.
However, the committee reportedly wanted to keep the details of the meeting away from the media’s view because the presence of the PEMC president can be construed as an act of ‘regulatory capture.’
Many quarters believe that the WESM operator must also be investigated for its failure to avert the month-long surges in electricity spot prices – at least via its market surveillance committee.
In the graphs that were examined during the meeting, the energy officials reportedly zeroed in on scrutinizing if Meralco had earned from the series of P62 per kilowatt hour (kWh) price offers it made in the spot market – done mostly during off-peak hours.
Meralco earlier told Manila Bulletin it “has not earned from those bids”, but according to the tripartite committee sources “the outcome of the investigation may show otherwise, although it is still not conclusive at this time.”
The ERC previously noted that it has been looking at the “trading behaviors” of market participants, especially the power generators which were making the “price surging offers” during the critical supply months of November and December.
President Benigno Aquino III similarly raised the possibility of “wrong decisions” which may have been committed by Meralco – primarily its option to expose itself to the volatile WESM prices.
Both ways, Meralco can be faulted because it was also partly responsible in driving up the spot market prices, even with its defense that it just did the ‘high price offers’ because it did not want its contracted capacity to be dispatched.
Such argument may be betrayed by Meralco’s repeated action of making the P62 per kWh bids even after ascertaining that such offers were being cleared as settlement prices by the spot market. source
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