ERC backs strengthening, not abolition of agency

By Myrna M. Velasco – July 7, 2018, 10:00 PM
from Manila Bulletin

The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) sounded off that it will be supporting legislative measures pushing for the agency’s strengthening, not the calls of some lawmakers or the institution to be abolished.

  Agnes T. Devanadera

ERC Chairperson Agnes T. Devanadera said “we are acting on the electric power industry’s plea to strengthen the ERC,” with her emphasizing that they recognize the landscape changes of regulation that they will need to keep pace with.

While at this critical transition, Devanadera said she has directed “the review of all rules with direct impact on electricity consumers and improve thereon, if warranted.”

In the propounded reinforcement of the ERC as an institution, the main target of the principal authors of the bill shall be to separate the functions of the ERC Chairman and the agency’s Chief Executive Officer, so the administrative side could be handled by another individual and for the Commissioners to concentrate on regulatory matters.

In the recent anniversary of the agency, former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has rhapsodized about the accomplishments of the ERC over the years – starting from the passage of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) in 2001 when she was the occupant at Malacañang Palace.

Despite the controversies the regulatory body had to deal with, Arroyo recounted that the agency had its share of accomplishments that should keep the ERC employees and officials going as they wade through the hurdles and thousands of case backlogs overwhelming them at their office desks.

She noted that without the agency exercising its functions, heaps of industry developments would not have been possible: Including the setting up of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), the ongoing interconnection of the Mindanao-Visayas grids; and broadening the electricity access of many Filipino consumers and the offer of service choice to end-users such as prepaid electricity.
“The EPIRA law is not perfect. But it is better to have an imperfect symphony that is being performed than a perfect symphony that is never played,” she stressed as a parallelism as to how the ERC has been doing its work so far.

Arroyo added “if you are not always appreciated, it does not mean that you are not playing an important role. I know you have the energy to cope with the demands of your work in ERC to serve the nation well.”

The former president, who is also widely perceived as the next Speaker of the House, further indicated that she will be in support of the measures that will strengthen the ERC as an institution.

Arroyo similarly noted that the measure will hopefully lift the ERC up from its current situation, “of being unappreciated as a regulator,” and for its employees morale to be invigorated.