(The Philippine Star) | Updated July 17, 2016 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines -
More energy customers have opted to choose their own power provider in the
first half of the year, signaling retail competition in the market is finally
gaining ground.
From only 372 by
end-last year, there are now 400 contestable customers in the market who can
choose their own power supplier, the Philippine Electricity Market Corp. said.
Of the total, 12
contestable customers, which have an average peak demand of 750-999 kilowatt
(kw), opted to register in the retail market after the qualification threshold
was lowered to 750 kw from one megawatt.
“We look forward to an
expansion in market membership with the lowering of contestability threshold,”
PEMC president Melinda Ocampo said.
“As we see more
customers realize the benefits of retail competition, PEMC has initiated the
streamlining of market processes that will ensure that barriers to entry in the
retail market are removed,” she said.
Contestable customers
are part of the power industry’s retail competition and open access program
that officially began on June 26, 2013 through voluntary participation.
The program would then
become mandatory by Dec. 26 this year for customers with peak demand. For those
consuming 750 kw, deadline is set on June 26 next year.
The retail competition
and open access, meant to promote affordable power prices, is mandated by
Republic Act 9136 Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2004.
Currently, customers
may choose among 34 suppliers, 16 of which are retail electricity providers, 12
are in local retail, while the remaining six are classified suppliers of last
No comments:
Post a Comment