Posted on September 13, 2016
THE Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) is looking
into a possible arrangement with the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC)
that will allow the two agencies to work together in a crackdown on
anti-competitive behavior across the energy sector, an official said.
The issue over the two agencies’
jurisdiction came up amid allegations that power generation companies breached
anti-competition rules after a series of power outages in July and August
coincided with the scheduled maintenance of other plants, resulting in power
interruptions in Metro Manila and nearby provinces.
“Since we are both government [agencies]... what we are looking at is probably a cooperation where there could be a delineation of responsibilities,” said ERC Commissioner Alfredo J. Non.
“At this point, we’re still discussing with PCC. We do not want to say that it is our domain,” he said, citing ERC’s function under Republic Act 9136 or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 (EPIRA).
EPIRA mandates the ERC to monitor and penalize, motu proprio, any act that constitutes market power abuse and/or anti-competitive or discriminatory behavior by any electric power industry participant.
RA 10667 or the Philippine Competition Act of 2015 mandates the PCC to implement and enforce a national competition policy in order to ensure the promotion and protection of the competitive market by prohibiting anti-competitive agreements, abuse of dominant position, and anti-competitive mergers and acquisitions.
“We could do [the] fiscal’s job or preliminary investigation and then they could do the actual evaluation,” Mr. Non said. “[So there could be a] division of responsibilities.”
But he also said there is risk that the PCC might not agree and overturn the result of the ERC’s investigation, in which case he said the option would be to raise the issue before an appellate court.
‘PROSPECTIVE’
In early August, the ERC directed plant operators to submit a detailed report on the causes of forced outages in addition to the regular reporting required of those whose facilities have been on a forced outage status.
Jose Vicente B. Salazar, ERC chairman and chief executive officer, said on Aug. 30 that the ERC and PCC would formalize their partnership “soon so we could define our specific roles to competently execute and fulfill our respective mandates.”
Mr. Non said the cooperation with PCC would be “prospective” in nature, thus would exclude cases of alleged collusion in 2013 against 13 companies.
“We can start [hearing] within the year, but the decision... I’m not sure,” he said.
In June, the ERC divided the commission into two core groups when it hears anti-competition cases in order to speed up disposition. This was after it received 13 complaints from its investigatory unit for violation of Section 45 of EPIRA which governs anti-competitive behavior.
“We can do a marathon hearing,” Mr. Non said, but added other issues might come up during the process.
In June 2015, the ERC investigatory unit reported that a number of companies withheld power supply during a period in December 2013, resulting in a spike in electricity prices. The companies were identified as 1590 Bauang Energy Corp.; AP Renewables, Inc.; CIP II Power Corp.; GNPower Mariveles Coal Plant Ltd.; Manila Electric Co.; Panasia Energy, Inc.; Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM); Sem-Calaca Power Corp.; Strategic Power Development Corp.; Therma Mobile, Inc.; Trans-Asia Power Generation Corp.; and Udenna Management and Resources Corp.
“Since we are both government [agencies]... what we are looking at is probably a cooperation where there could be a delineation of responsibilities,” said ERC Commissioner Alfredo J. Non.
“At this point, we’re still discussing with PCC. We do not want to say that it is our domain,” he said, citing ERC’s function under Republic Act 9136 or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 (EPIRA).
EPIRA mandates the ERC to monitor and penalize, motu proprio, any act that constitutes market power abuse and/or anti-competitive or discriminatory behavior by any electric power industry participant.
RA 10667 or the Philippine Competition Act of 2015 mandates the PCC to implement and enforce a national competition policy in order to ensure the promotion and protection of the competitive market by prohibiting anti-competitive agreements, abuse of dominant position, and anti-competitive mergers and acquisitions.
“We could do [the] fiscal’s job or preliminary investigation and then they could do the actual evaluation,” Mr. Non said. “[So there could be a] division of responsibilities.”
But he also said there is risk that the PCC might not agree and overturn the result of the ERC’s investigation, in which case he said the option would be to raise the issue before an appellate court.
‘PROSPECTIVE’
In early August, the ERC directed plant operators to submit a detailed report on the causes of forced outages in addition to the regular reporting required of those whose facilities have been on a forced outage status.
Jose Vicente B. Salazar, ERC chairman and chief executive officer, said on Aug. 30 that the ERC and PCC would formalize their partnership “soon so we could define our specific roles to competently execute and fulfill our respective mandates.”
Mr. Non said the cooperation with PCC would be “prospective” in nature, thus would exclude cases of alleged collusion in 2013 against 13 companies.
“We can start [hearing] within the year, but the decision... I’m not sure,” he said.
In June, the ERC divided the commission into two core groups when it hears anti-competition cases in order to speed up disposition. This was after it received 13 complaints from its investigatory unit for violation of Section 45 of EPIRA which governs anti-competitive behavior.
“We can do a marathon hearing,” Mr. Non said, but added other issues might come up during the process.
In June 2015, the ERC investigatory unit reported that a number of companies withheld power supply during a period in December 2013, resulting in a spike in electricity prices. The companies were identified as 1590 Bauang Energy Corp.; AP Renewables, Inc.; CIP II Power Corp.; GNPower Mariveles Coal Plant Ltd.; Manila Electric Co.; Panasia Energy, Inc.; Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM); Sem-Calaca Power Corp.; Strategic Power Development Corp.; Therma Mobile, Inc.; Trans-Asia Power Generation Corp.; and Udenna Management and Resources Corp.
No comments:
Post a Comment