Trade groups demand start of open access

Business groups yesterday demanded the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to speed up the implementing guidelines for the open access scheme on electricity that will allow major power users to choose where to get their supply, saying that the start of the scheme is long overdue.

In a joint statement, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), together with the Philippine Exporters Confederation and the European Chamber of Commerce (ECCP) said that with the legal conditions already complied with, the ERC should complete the administrative requirements needed for the effective implementation of open access and retail competition (OARC).

The groups urged the ERC to begin setting the rules, terms and conditions in order to meet the minimum requirements for OARC to be declared, including the rules on settlement imbalances, line rentals and net settlement surplus between distribution utilities (DUs) and the retail electricity supply (RES); the duties and responsibilities of the Philippine Electric Market Corp. (PEMC) as the Central Registry Body (CRB); standards for metering facilities for contestable customers, duties of DU as meter service provider, and rates for metering services; settlement of disputes for contestable customers; VAT for the RES; design, procurement, and installation of IS/IT platform for DU-RES settlement; design, procurement, and installation of B2B IS/IT platform for CRB; and, inclusion of contestable customer metering in the performance-based rate (PBR) system.

PCCI president Francis Chua said open access and retail competition is long overdue.

“Completion of the administrative requirements together with identifying the responsible organizations or office for implementation and setting up clear milestones for the information of all stakeholders, will assure the business community that this will soon be declared,” he added.

Under the scheme, power generating companies are allowed to directly supply commercial establishments and industries consuming an average of 1 megawatt (MW) a month, also called the contestable market, providing competition to distribution utilities.

The declaration of the OARC is highly-anticipated by the business sector. PCCI’s energy committee chairman Jose Alejandro said by assuring buyers of their electricity, retail competition makes the market more attractive for investments in power generation projects.

On the other hand, “providing end-users the freedom to choose their electricity supplier allows them to get the most reasonable cost and the most efficient service,” he added.

Pending the completion of the administrative requirements, the group is proposing an interim open access or the PSOP in Luzon on an optional and voluntary basis until the actual open access starts.

“The PSOP will not only gauge how competitive forces will play under the deregulated power market, more importantly, it will enable the ERC and stakeholders in the electric power industry to identify and address, if any, other issues not initially conceived,” Chua said.

The business leaders called on the ERC and all parties involved in setting up the framework to thoroughly and objectively assess the proposals on the administrative requirements to ensure a level playing field for generating companies and to protect the interest of the contestable market once OARC commences.

The PCCI, in partnership with AES-Philippines, is conducting a series of workshops from March to June this year to alert the contestable market on the benefits of open access and to prepare them to gainfully participate under the OARC regime. –Ayen Infante, Daily Tribune