Published
By Myrna M. Velasco
No less than Energy
Regulatory Commission (ERC) Chairperson Agnes T. Devanadera has admitted that
they are still wrestling with thousands of case backlogs and the regulatory
body is not expecting this abated because of expected flurry of new power
supply agreements (PSAs) from the competitive selection process (CSP) mandate
on distribution utilities.
“We still have thousands of backlog cases,”
Devanadera stressed, adding that the Commission’s timeframe of unpacking its
docket of cases this year will no longer be attainable.
The ERC chief further
said, “We’re not just talking about the initial applications – and considering
the very aggressive CSP initiatives we have right now, there will definitely be
more cases that we will need to decide on.”
She said the Commission has been trying to address the voluminous case backlogs
since she started her term, but they were first constrained with shortage of
personnel that can handle evaluation of cases – especially those on PSAs.
The ERC, she
emphasized, is still at that stage of reinforcing its capacity enhancement so
it instituted a “buddy-buddy system” or for its employees in the Regulatory
Operations Service (ROS) to have under-studies so they can train people to have
expertise in handling PSA cases.
“Now you will find in
the ERC many new employees and that’s part of addressing the backlog,”
Devanadera said, emphasizing that their ROS division now has more than 100
staff.
“The 14 staff handling
PSAs now have their buddies. So even if the staff in that work had not really
been increased in the strict sense, they are already training people or their
buddies to gain expertise in handling these cases,” the ERC chief stressed.
The ERC has been unremittingly criticized for its very slow decision-making
process especially on cases that weigh heavily on investment decisions as well
as those that could ensure power supply availability and reliability for
consumers.
Other than resolving
the long-held concern of colossal case backlogs, Devanadera also sounded off
the need to change the mindset of ERC officials from “not just being
regulators, but to be enablers” especially with the unstoppable pace of
innovations in the energy sector.
“Even the regulators
must have that kind of sensitivity at this point in time…if we remain to be
pure regulators, we will be lost,” Devanadera said.
In other power markets
overseas, energy regulators have already started modifying even their
rate-setting schemes; and have been opening up markets to a lesser degree of
regulation so competitive forces could freely innovate and design the best
service package for the end-users.
In
the Philippines, however, the deregulated electricity sector is still stuck in
the very political and antiquated sphere of regulation and policy-making
processes.
No comments:
Post a Comment