Retail electricity market participants hit 940 in Q4

THE retail electricity market continues to attract more participants with registrants of 940 by the fourth quarter of 2017, or nearly four times the level of contestable customers when it launched in June 2013.

In a report, the Philippine Electricity Market Corp. (PEMC) said Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) had the biggest share of the contestable market — those whose average monthly consumption in the past year has reached the threshold set by the energy regulator.

“By the end of December 2017 billing month, about 30% of all registrants are being supplied by Meralco local RES ( retail electricity supplier),” said PEMC, the entity that oversees the wholesale electricity spot market.

PEMC, which is also the repository of data on the retail market, also said Meralco’s share in the energy consumption of all registered contestable customers during the fourth quarter was about 33% of the total.

Under existing rules, consumers whose power usage reach a monthly average of at least 1 megawatt (MW) are required to buy their electricity from retail electricity suppliers (RES).

That threshold was meant to be lowered to 750-kilowatts (kW) but the Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order, leaving only those in the 1-MW consumer segment in the “contestable” market. The high court has yet to lift its order. —

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