DoE lends Nasecore an ear

As WESM has already started commercial operations on 26 June 2006, the law mandates that an independent entity should be formed

The Department of Energy (DoE) is open to studying a proposal by the National Association of Electricity Consumers for Reforms Inc. (Nasecore) to abolish the Philippine Electricity Market Corporation (PEMC).

Nasecore head Pete Ilagan has written Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi to point out that under the Electric Power Industry Reform (EPIRA) Law, PEMC was organized by the DoE as the “market operator.”

PEMC was constituted and created to undertake preparatory work and initial operation of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), the group said.

But as WESM has already started commercial operations on 26 June 2006, the law mandates that an independent entity should be formed, it added.

Nasecore stressed that the “reported continued existence of PEMC as a governing body is a clear violation” of Rule 9, Section 7 (d) of the EPIRA Law’s implementing rules and regulations (IRR).

In response, Energy Assistant Secretary Gerardo Erguiza Jr. said that he doesn’t know where Ilagan and his group are coming from, saying he has yet to read the letter. However, he said the DoE has always been open to feedbacks.

“There are stages in the operation of the independent market operator (IMO). In the last 16 to 17 years, the IMO was not formed or the law was not implemented because of some problems,” Erguisa said.

“Before it can be formed, we need the endorsement of the stakeholders. And of course, the stakeholders then were running the transitory market operator which is the PEMC. And the stakeholders then never gave their endorsement upon our study, because we will be killing the PEMC,” he added.