DoE order to refine retail competition and open access

By Alena Mae S. Flores – April 05, 2019 at 09:10 pm
from manilastandard.net

The Department of Energy is set to come out with a circular to assure further the smooth implementation of the retail competition and open access, where customers are given the choice to use their own supplier.

The DoE in the draft circular directed the lifting of the mandatory registration of contestable customers or those with a demand of one megawatt and below to the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market, the country’s trading floor of electricity.

“The mandatory registration to the WESM… is hereby lifted. For this purpose, CCs, on its choice, may register with the WESM, directly or indirectly,” the DoE said.The DoE on November 29, 2017 issued a policy providing for the timeline of lowering the demand threshold level in voluntary participation of the contestable customer on the retail market to 750 kilowatts.

With the lowering of the threshold, the DoE expected the number of eligible contestable customers to increase. But the mandatory registration of CCs to the WESM had posed barrier to the entry of lower threshold of customers to the retail market.

The DoE, however, said all CCs should register with the Central Registration Body  for energy accounting and settlement purposes of suppliers, distribution utilities and other entities that may be affected on the implementation of the policy.

The DoE designated the independent market operator as the CRB for RCOA.

“The D-E is hereby designating the IMO as the new CRB in view of the transfer of PEMC’s market operations functions. For this purpose, IEMOP as the designated IMO, shall assume all the functions and responsibilities of the CRB,” it said.

The Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines is now the independent market operator, or IMO, that assumed the operation of Philippine Electricity Market Corp.

“Likewise, IEMOP shall upgrade, modify or develop its registration systems, processes and guidelines for the registration of the RCOA participants. IEMOP shall likewise recommend changes to the WESM rules, retail rules and market manuals that may be affected by the implementation of this circular,” the DoE said.