Transparency in power supply bidding sought

Negros Occidental Rep. Alfredo Benitez has sought a transparent bidding process for power supply.

He filed House Bill No. 84 seeking to mandate the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to conduct a transparent and competitive selection process in power supply contracts between Distribution Utilities (DUs) and generation companies.

He said there is a need to amend Section 45(b) of Republic Act No. 9136, otherwise known as the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 or the EPIRA.

“Such amendment to EPIRA will provide for a closer scrutiny of power contracts and will make DOE accountable for questionable transactions between the distribution and generation sectors,” Benitez said.

Section 45(b) of RA 9136 on Cross Ownership, Market Power Abuse and Anti-Competitive Behavior provides that “distribution utilities may enter into bilateral power supply contracts subject to review by ERC.”

Benitez said since its enactment in 2001, EPIRA supposedly failed to promote “transparent and reasonable prices of electricity in a regime of free and fair competition."

“Unfortunately, fifteen years after the approval of EPIRA, its intention of bringing down the rates through the cultivation of market competition remains elusive. Electricity rates in the Philippines are among the highest in the region," he pointed out.

Citing the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) report, he said 11 to 15 percent of Filipino workers’ take home pay goes to the cost of electricity alone.

"While EPIRA included safeguards against the monopolistic control of the local power industry by introducing the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) and prohibited crossownership, some private corporations have still found ways to circumvent the law through the loopholes in the law," Benitez laments.