PEMC moves closer to being independent

By Alena Mae S. Flores – June 26, 2018 at 07:00 pm
from manilastandard.net

Philippine Electricity Market Corp., operator of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market, took a step closer of becoming an independent market operator after the Energy Department relinquished the board chairmanship.

“We made an important step in the Philippines’ transition towards an independent market operator that supervises our electricity market, an important step which sees the DoE relieving its chairmanship to PEMC, paving the way for independent stakeholders to be elected to this position,” Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said.

PEMC operates the WESM, the country’s trading floor of electricity, but the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 requires the transfer of the operations to an IMO to remove perceptions of government intervention.

“DoE continues to emphasize that independence is a must for the Philippine energy landscape. Not only will it see us delivering good on the promise of EPIRA in 2001, but it will also make the Philippines one of our two nations in Southeast Asia to have successfully adopted this framework,” Cusi said.