DOE sets ‘transition committee’ for WESM in Mindanao

Published January 9, 2018, 10:00 PM By Myrna M. Velasco

https://business.mb.com.ph/2018/01/09/doe-sets-transition-committee-for-wesm-in-mindanao/

The Department of Energy (DOE) is pushing for the creation of a transition committee of overwhelming nine-man membership for the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) in Mindanao.

The department has also prescribed the selection process of the individuals that shall comprise the southern spot market’s transition committee.

Although it is rather a small market compared to the interconnected Luzon and Visayas markets, the proposed transition committee will be sizeable compared to the five-man team at the Manila-based Philippine Electricity Market Corporation.

According to the DOE, the Mindanao-WESM transition committee shall have one representative from the electric cooperatives, one representative from the private distribution utilities, one representative from the embedded generators, one representative from the conventional grid-connected generators, one representative from the RE grid-connected generators, two representatives from the independent sector, one representative from the market operator, and one representative from the Mindanao System Operator.

As stipulated by the energy department, the transition committee shall “oversee and monitor the development of the WESM in Mindanao;” oversee and monitor the activities of the MO (market operator), the Mindanao system operator “with regard to the WESM processes as implemented in Mindanao to ensure that they fulfill their responsibilities under the WESM Rules.”

Additionally, the committee shall have oversight and must also monitor the activities of Mindanao WESM members “to ascertain and determine compliance or non-compliance” with the spot market rules. Part of the committee’s mandate shall also cover setting requirements on WESM members and the system operator “to submit information as maybe necessary to fulfill its mandate.”

It shall be in charge of reporting “any suspected incidents or non-compliance with the WESM Rules to the Enforcement and Compliance Officer (ECO) for investigation.”

The WESM transition body shall likewise “issue rules change proposals through resolutions to the rules change committee.” Added mandate will further cover issuance of policy recommendations through resolutions and report regular updates on any matter related to WESM in Mindanao to the PEM Board.

WESM Mindanao was launched June last year, but its commercial operations would only be targeted after a year following the requisite trial operations period of trading for market participants.