RES customers now allowed to switch suppliers
THE Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) on Thursday announced that contestable customers already supplied by Retail Electricity Suppliers (RES) are now allowed to switch to other retail suppliers or to suppliers of last resort (SOLR).
The ERC said that this is even without the additional burden of securing clearances from current suppliers.
According to a statement from the ERC, the changes is due to the alignment of requirements with consumer choice policy under Republic Act 9136, as they amended Resolution 9, Series of 2018 or the “Rules Supplementing the Switching and Billing Process and Adopting a Disconnection
Policy for Contestable Consumers.”
The review of the rules was triggered by ERC’s receipt of numerous complaints from contestable or large consumers against alleged rate adjustments implemented by their RES.
Contestable consumers claim that the rate adjustments are imposed with threats of disconnections in case of nonpayment even as disputes are pending for resolution with the ERC or regular courts.
Under the amended rules, a contestable consumer already being served by a RES shall be allowed to switch to a new RES or SOLR, notwithstanding the existence of an outstanding balance.
The rules emphasize, however, that the contestable consumer shall remain responsible for the fulfillment of its lawful obligations with its incumbent RES.
Further, the rules state that no consumer will be allowed to do the initial transfer to a RES from its distribution utility (DU) without first settling their accounts with the DU.
Several consumers doing the initial switch to RES from their DUs shall be entitled to the refund of security or bill deposits.
Under the Retail Competition and Open Access (RCOA) program pursuant to Epira (Electric Power Industry Reform Act), consumers that meet a certain threshold of electricity consumption are allowed to choose their electricity suppliers.
RCOA gradually reduces the energy threshold level of the program until it reaches the household demand level.
The ERC said that the amendment to Resolution 9, Series of 2018 is a curative resolution made to ensure the alignment of its rules with the policies of the Department of Energy (DoE) consistent with the Supreme Court’s rulings in Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas vs ERC in 2019 and Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry v DoE in 2021.