ERC imposes market share limit among generation firms

By Alena Mae S. Flores – April 3, 2023, 6:25 pm
from manilastandard.net

The Energy Regulatory Commission issued market share limit per grid and the national grid among generating companies.

It said that under Republic Act No. 9136 or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001, no company or related group should own, operate or control more than 30  percent of the installed generating capacity of a grid and/or 25 percent of the national IGC.

“The ERC is mindful of its role in promoting market competition, encouraging market development, and in discouraging/penalizing abuse of market power and any anti-competitive behavior in order to ensure a level playing feld particularly in the generation sector. The IGC serves as our baseline in determining the existence of a breach in the market share limit of any market participant,” ERC chairperson Monalisa Dimalanta said.

It sets the IGC annually and may be adjusted as necessary based on the maximum capacity of generation facilities.

The ERC utilized the Pmax as the maximum capacity which is the technical specification of the generation facility as indicated in their issued certificate of compliance and the capacity registered in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market.

Pmax is defined as the “maximum demand in MW that a generating unit, or generating block or module, in case of a combined cycle power plant, can reliably sustain for an indefinite period of time, based on the generator capability tests.”

The ERC set the IGC for the national grid at 25,451 MW, which means no generating company should exceed the 25-percent limit of 6,367.75 MW.

It set the IGC for Luzon at 17,788 MW and the IGC limit at 5,336 MW.

It set the IGC limit at 3,464 MW and 4,217 MW for Visayas and Mindanao, respectively and the IGC limit at 1,039 MW and 1,265 MW, respectively.