FDC unit CEO tops board seat voting for WESM governing body
The chief executive officer (CEO) of the energy investment arm of Filinvest Development Corporation (FDC) had topped the voting for a board seat at the governing body of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM).
In a voting held on Wednesday (April 25) among power generation companies that are traders at the WESM, FDC Utilities, Inc. (FDCUI) President and CEO Juan Eugenio L. Roxas emerged at the top, edging out rivals who are from the top three players in the power industry.
Second in the final tally had been Aboitiz Power Executive Vice President Emmanuel V. Rubio; and followed by SMC Global Power Holdings Corporation General Manager Elenita D. Go; then First Gen Senior Vice President Victor Emmanuel B. Santos.
Coming in last in the poll outcome had been Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation Officer-in-Charge Arnold C. Francisco, who was also the lone government nominee in the Philippine Electricity Market (PEM) Board.
Four seats will be allotted to the generation companies in the restructured PEM Board, which will then serve as the governing body of the WESM following its transfer of day-to-day operations to an independent market operator.
That entails then that all four private generation firms – FDCUI, San Miguel Group, Aboitiz Power and First Gen will all corner a seat in the PEM Board; and it will be state-run PSALM that would be dislodged in the process.
Industry watchers have noted that the voting result “shows the stronghold of the private sector in the liberalized power sector, with the government already getting eclipsed in the market’s vantage point.”
PSALM though is still a “significant player” in the industry, with several of National Power Corporation’s assets remaining under its charge due to some hurdles in privatization processes being carried out by the State.
June this year will be a critical transition for the country’s electricity spot market with the expected entry of the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMO) to manage the market operations function of the WESM.