Published
By Myrna M. Velasco
Seven incorporators for
the Independent Market Operator (IMO) for the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market
(WESM) have been named in a general assembly of market and power industry
participants on Tuesday (February 6).
Those named to
incorporate the IMO entity with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
are: Transition Committee Chairman Oscar Ala, as well as other transition
committee members, namely Chief Operating Officer Francis Saturnino Juan, Rauf
A. Tan, lawyer Jose Layug and Engineer Jose Mari Bigornia, plus lawyers Ann
Garcia Matibag and Carol Tan.
Matibag is currently
the chief of staff of the Philippine Electricity Market Corporation (PEMC)
transition committee and wife to National Transmission Corporation (TransCo)
President Melvin A. Matibag.
Layug, for his part, is
chairman of the National Renewable Energy Board (NREB) and is also affiliated
with Puno and Puno law firm.
The rest of the
designated IMO incorporators are professionals who have served the energy
sector in various capacities as officials of agencies or regulatory bodies.
Energy Secretary
Alfonso G. Cusi explained that the transition committee will have extended term
until June 30, 2018; but after that, they will already need to step aside and
set leeway for the entry of a new board.
SGV and Co. has also
been tapped as the human resource (HR) consultant, with transition committee’s
Juan explaining that their job will be to determine the appropriate structure
and pay scale for the IMO staff and the restructured PEMC.
“This is a milestone
for the industry and to me being the Secretary, it happened during my watch and
I am happy that I can deliver this. It just happened that I am here, so I thank
the transition team and PEMC who worked hard for this,” the energy chief
stressed.
Relative to this
development, the Department of Energy (DOE) has also firmed up finally and
issued a policy that will cement the pathway of the WESM into having an
independent market operator or IMO, a long awaited component of the power
sector’s reform process.
The DOE has fortified
that policy direction via Department Circular No. DC2018-01-0002, which is
anchored on: Adopting Policies for the Effective and Efficient Transition to
the IMO for the WESM.
The IMO shift will
require the incorporation of a new company that will handle the trading and
market operations of the electricity spot market.
Meanwhile, the
Philippine Electricity Market Corporation (PEMC) will be retained as a
corporate entity, but its functions will be streamlined into just the
governance body of the spot market.
The WESM, aside from it
being the restructured power sector’s price signal setter, serves as an added
venue for power generators to sell their un-contracted capacities. And on the
part of the distribution utilities and electric cooperatives, it is a market
wherein they can buy capacity not covered by their contracts with suppliers.
The WESM also serves as
the central registration body (CRB) for retail electricity suppliers (RES) that
have been offering supply and services to customers in the so-called
contestable market or those segment of end-users that can already exercise
their freedom of choice on power supply contracting.
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