ERC preparing for start of open access on Dec. 26

The Energy Regulatory Commission has started giving out certificates to more than 500 qualified entities that will be allowed to participate in the open access scheme, which will be in place starting Dec. 26.

The so-called “contestable customers” are composed of entities that consume 1.5 megawatts and up monthly over the past year.

According to ERC executive director Francis Saturnino Juan, the ERC is still monitoring and evaluating customers that consume 1MW to 1.4 MW of electricity monthly as to whether they will be able to meet the threshold.

Under the open access system, large power users will be able to choose their own power suppliers.

Juan said in an interview that while the Commission had yet to thresh out certain issues and put in place the necessary mechanisms to have the open access scheme ready for implementation, they were sticking with the Dec. 26 schedule.

Juan said the ERC was not keen on extending the date it had set for start of the open access and retail competition regime, even as the Department of Energy already said that it might not be able to meet all the requirements by then.

Juan earlier made an assurance that the ERC was taking note of the issues that needed to be addressed and the other requirements, including the IT infrastructure for the system, before the actual implementation of open access.

“The commission is also looking at schemes on how to address the issues. It has even created a technical working group to discuss and coordinate with the DOE and other concerned energy stakeholders regarding all these issues,” Juan explained.