(The Philippine Star) | Updated November 18, 2016 -
12:00am
MANILA, Philippines -
Large power consumers are given more time to find suppliers under the retail
competition and open access (RCOA) scheme as power regulators agree on
extending the deadline by two months.
The Department of
Energy (DOE) and the Energy Regul atory Commission (ERC) agreed on extending
the deadline for end-users with an average monthly peak demand of at least one
megawatt (MW) to secure contract supply from retail electricity suppliers (RES)
by Feb. 26, 2017.
Originally, these large
power users were mandated to enter into retail supply contracts (RSC) by Dec.
26, 2016.DOE Secretary Alfonso Cusi, who was initially hesitant to extend the
RCOA deadline, said the new schedule was “realistic” to finally push the the
open market scheme.
“But we agreed. because
we’re pushing for that RCOA,” Cusi said.
Under the RCOA regime,
end-users who are part of the contestable market, or contestable customers
(CCs), are given the choice to choose their supplier of electricity aimed to
foster competition in the generation and supply sector.
After giving DOE
consent, the ERC has formalized to move the implementation of mandatory
migration for CCs next year, chairman Jose Vicente Salazar said in a text
message.
“CCs which fail to finalize a retail supply
contract (RSC) with a retail electricity supplier (RES) shall have the option
to be served by the distribution utility (DU) as a supplier of last resort (SOLR),”
he said.
The ERC also resolved
to review the SOLR rules to make sure that the applicable SOLR rate would not
be burdensome on the CCs.
Meanwhile, mandatory
contestability for CCs with 750 kilowatts to 999 kW average peak demand remains
on June 26, 2017.
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