Danessa Rivera (The Philippine Star)
- January 11, 2018 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — The speedy resolution
of the leadership vacuum at the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) will serve
the best interest of power players and consumers since the power industry is a
heavily regulated one, according to the top official of Manila Electric Co.
(Meralco).
Since the power sector is heavily
regulated, the operations and services of power distributors to customers are
largely affected by the ability of its regulator to function effectively,
Meralco president Oscar Reyes said.
Without the regulatory functions of
ERC, he said the power industry would be put at risk since it would not be able
to ensure power supply and security moving forward.
“(Power supply and security) is
critical at this point because the country is very well positioned in terms of
its growth trajectory. The country has become highly attractive not only to
local but also foreign investors. And we don’t want to lose that sort of
momentum and confidence,” he said.
“There are many critical pending
issues that relate to the operations, the investments, the building of new
power plants, the supply of different distribution utilities (DUs) and electric
cooperatives (ECs), so I think it is quite critical that ERC be restored to its
regular functioning,” he said.
Last month, the Office of the
Ombudsman ordered the suspension ERC commissioners Alfredo Non, Gloria
Yap-Taruc, Josefina Patricia Magpale-Asirit and Geronimo Sta. Ana for one year
without pay for delaying the conduct of competitive bidding in securing power
supply agreements (PSAs).
The competitive selection process
(CSP) policy—which requires DUs and ECs to undertake competitive bidding to
secure PSAs with generation companies—was supposed to start in Nov. 7,
2015, but implementation was moved to April 30, 2016 to give power
players a transition period to comply.
The Ombusdman said delay in
implementation negated the policies contained under the Electric Power Industry
Reform Act of 2001 (EPIRA) and CSP resolutions to protect the interests of
consumers.
However, ERC chairperson and CEO
Agnes Devanadera said the one-year suspension order on the four commissioners
would paralyze the agency and the whole power industry with P1.59 billion worth
of pending applications before the agency.
She also said this could lead to
possible power outages in Metro Manila and in the provinces due to the long
list of pending cases before the ERC.
This is because the ERC acts as a
collegial body and the presence of at least three members of the commission is
needed to constitute a quorum to adopt any ruling, order, resolution, decision
or other acts of the Commission in the exercise of its quasi-judicial and
quasi-legislative functions, Devanadera said.
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