(The Philippine Star) | Updated October 23, 2017 - 12:00am
Energy
Secretary Alfonso Cusi said the Department of Energy (DOE) is conducting a
study on the PSE’s proposal to operate the wholesale electricity spot market
(WESM). “It’s worth studying, we are studying it,” he said. File
MANILA, Philippines —
Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi is open to a proposal to allow the Philippine
Stock Exchange (PSE) operate the country’s trading floor for electricity.
Cusi said the
Department of Energy (DOE) is conducting a study on the PSE’s proposal to
operate the wholesale electricity spot market (WESM). “It’s worth studying, we
are studying it,” he said.
However, Cusi said
there are still other possible options for the operation of WESM. “It’s a
possibility so we’re doing studies and that is good for the industry,” he said.
“We have to open our minds to all the possible options.”
PSE president Ramon
Monzon made a proposal to the DOE to let it operate the electricity spot
market.
WESM is operated by the
Philippine Electricity Market Corp. (PEMC), an entity created under the
Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 (EPIRA) in 2003 to oversee market
governance and perform the functions of the market operator.
PEMC, which has been
operating the market since 2006, is a 15-man body led by the Energy secretary
and composed of representatives from each sector of the electric power industry
as well as independent members.
In July, Cusi ordered
the creation of a transition committee for the interim management of PEMC and
WESM. It will also assess PEMC’s existing structures, systems, and resources
and propose a way forward for the WESM.
The transition panel,
chaired by Oscar Ala, former member of the Energy Regulatory Board, was given
seven months from Aug. 1, 2017 to complete the transition. Other transition
committee members are Jose Mari Bigornia, Jose Layug, Jr., Francis Saturnino
Juan and Rauf Tan.
Cusi said the
transition committee would foster transparency in the electricity spot market.
The transition
committee will also determine whether it is time to transfer the operations of
WESM to an IMO.
In December 2016, the
DOE formed an independent committee to review and audit the financial,
operational and systems records of PEMC to ensure competitive power prices and
safeguard consumers.
The audit is intended
to address concerns of certain sectors, assess PEMC’s budget proposal and also
determine whether PEMC should transition to an independent market operator.
No comments:
Post a Comment