PEMC Board of WESM also elects new officers; Cusi relinquishes post

The Philippine Electricity Market Corporation (PEMC), the governance body of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) has also elected its new set of officers, with lawyer and former Energy Regulatory Board (ERB) Commissioner Oscar E. Ala getting designated as president.

This is the other set of reform instituted in the WESM, following last Monday’s election of officers at the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMO), which will now man the day-to-day operations of the spot market.

At PEMC, former ERC Commissioner Rauf A. Tan has been named Chief Governance Officer (CGO); while Ellen Go, general manager of San Miguel Global Power Holdings Corporation was elected treasurer. Ala and Tan are both part of the WESM transition committee that will lapse this June 30.

For the PEM Board chairmanship that was previously held by Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi, it was relinquished to Noel Aboboto of TeaM Energy Philippines, who is a representative of the supply sector.

The WESM governing body’s corporate secretary is Rachel Anosan, the same post she held while PEMC was still overseeing both governance and market operations of the electricity spot market. The board of PEMC has 15 members and selected from across industry segments, namely: Juan Eugenio L. Roxas of FDC Utilities, Inc.; Emmanuel V. Rubio of Aboitiz Power Corporation; Victor Emmanuel Santos of First Gen Corporation; and Go of SMC group.

For the distribution sector, elected board directors were: Rolando M. Cagampan of the Manila Electric Company; Gilbert A. Pagobo of Mactan Electric Company, Inc.; Felino Herbert P. Agdigos of the Ilocos Norte Electric Cooperative; and Allan L. Laniba of the Leyte Electric Cooperative III.

Aside from Aboboto, the supply sector will also be represented by Francis Saturnino Juan, the president of the newly reconstituted independent market operator of the WESM.

For the transmission segment, the elected board member was lawyer Ronald Dylan Concepcion of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines.

To structurally separate its function from the WESM-IMO, the PEM Board will need to sign an agreement with IEMO to delineate their respective roles as well as tackle the sharing of required resources.

The PEM Board will exercise market surveillance, compliances, audit and rules change function that will then aid the WESM on its daily operations.

It was similarly emphasized that the PEM Board and the WESM governance committees shall be supported by a manpower complement that shall be performing secretariat functions, market assessment, market governance administration; as well as enforcement and compliance functions.