by Myrna Velasco December 30, 2015
The engagement of a third party to
undertake competitive selection process (CSP) on the supply procurement of
distribution utilities (DUs) is no longer in the discussion route as far as the
Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) is concerned.
ERC Chairman Jose Vicente B. Salazar
told reporters that the CSP resolution they issued in October is already the
final version that they came up with.
“That’s already it… so far, there’s no
discussion anymore on the engagement of a third party (for CSP),” he stressed.
So far, this differs on the stand of
the Department of Energy (DOE), with Secretary Zenaida Y. Monsada earlier
hinting to reporters that they would still push for guidelines that will tackle
the third party and aggregation concerns on the CSP.
Salazar has indicated that if the
DOE would still want to open discussions, they are amenable to sit down with
them and flesh out concerns on that particular issue.
He cannot give any assurance though
that they will eventually agree to the ‘third party’ proposal as this is a
matter that the ERC will have to decide on as a collegial body.
The third party proposition in the
DOE version of the CSP had been held most controversial, hence, some parties
have raised opposition to the policy early on.
It was gathered that the
ERC-designed CSP had been more acceptable to the stakeholders, primarily to
power distribution giant Manila Electric Company.In fact, the utility firm has
already started sending out tender notice for its 2016 power supply
requirements within the ERC-crafted CSP frame.
The aggregation proposal – which
will likely amalgamate weak and strong electric cooperatives in the supply
auction – was also fiercely questioned because of ‘subsidization tendencies’ of
such arrangement.
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