SEEING THE PHILIPPINES as a benchmark on power regulation, officials of the Bhutan Electricity Authority have recently sought the expertise of the local Energy Regulatory Commission in restructuring their electric power industry.

In particular, Bhutan officials wanted to learn how the ERC conducts its public hearings, public consultations and the rate-making processes.

The Philippines is deemed to be one of the most advanced in terms of electric power industry restructuring and regulation among other developing countries, according to the ERC.

?The ERC?s vision to become Asia?s benchmark for excellence in power regulation is not far-fetched. It is moving slowly but surely toward one of the supreme goals of Epira?that is open access and retail competition?while adhering to its mission to protect the long-term interests of the electricity consumers,? said ERC Chair Zenaida G. Cruz-Ducut.

Aside from Bhutan, energy regulatory authorities from five other countries have already visited the ERC. These were South Korea?s Korea Electricity Commission (Korec), Electricity Regulatory of Vietnam (Erav), Kenya?s ERC, Tanzania?s Energy and Water Utilities Authority (Ewura) and Thailand?s own ERC.

The delegation from Bhutan was composed of its energy agency?s chair, commissioners and officiating chief executive officer.

The ERC and BEA have similarly undergone a restructuring of their respective electric industries in 2001, when both agencies were established by virtue of each country?s laws, namely the Electric Power Industry Reform Act for the ERC and the Electricity Act of Bhutan for BEA.

In the case of Bhutan, however, a state monopoly still existed in the electricity industry since its government owns and controls the supply of power. Thus, prices of electricity are still largely determined by the government and not driven by market forces.

According to the ERC, it provided a discussion on its rules of practice and procedure governing the hearings as well as on the newly adopted performance-based rate-setting (PBR) for the transmission and privately owned distribution utilities. Amy R. Remo