Published January 21, 2017, 10:00 PM
By Myrna M.
Velasco
The Department of Energy (DOE) will
likely change its mind on the mandatory implementation of the retail
competition and open access (RCOA) for end-users with lower limit usage of
1.0-megawatt, as originally targeted February this year.
Energy Undersecretary Felix William
Fuentebella said the department is considering that retail competition in the
1.0MW threshold be sustained as ‘noncompulsory’ considering the various
concerns raised by affected stakeholders and relevant customer segments.
“For the mandatory RCOA, Secretary
(Alfonso Cusi) said, we have to look at it again. This is not only based on the
new legal questions raised against the policy, but for us to assess if the
reasons being raised are valid…if they are, then we have to revisit that,” he
stressed.
Fuentebella added “there are
still ongoing consultations, so we will base decision from that – if we need to
keep RCOA at 1.0MW threshold still optional.”
Any adjustment on timeframe, he
said, shall be discussed with the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), the key
implementing agency of the competitive retail phase of the restructured
electricity sector.
The ERC initially thought out of
June, 2017 timeline for the mandatory phase of retail competition in the 1.0MW
threshold, but the DOE later prevailed on its proposed February, 2017 deadline
for contestable customers to sign contracts with retail electricity suppliers
(RES) relative to their power needs.
Contestable end-users belong to the
“unrestricted segment” or those with prescribed level of consumption that can
already exercise their power to contract or freely choose their electricity
suppliers. This is a move away from the traditional set-up of being dependent
on the services rendered by franchised distribution utilities (DUs) and
electric cooperatives.
From the initial threshold of 1.0MW,
this has been anticipated to be brought down to 750 kilowatts (kW), purportedly
on a parallel timeframe which is June this year.
With lowered consumption level for
mandatory participants in retail competition, it is expected that contestable
end-users listed by the operator of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market
(WESM) would grow by additional 353 customers. That roll currently has 437
customers at the voluntary phase yet of RCOA.
Retail competition is almost the
last-mile of reforms expected from the Electric Power Industry Reform Act
(EPIRA), but this is the juncture wherein Filipino consumers have massive expectations
that they can finally benefit from lower electricity rates and much-improved
services.
No comments:
Post a Comment