Gov’t finally cedes control of electricity spot market

The Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP) yesterday fully took over the operations of the wholesale electricity spot market (WESM), formally relieving the government of its role in running the trading platform.

The Philippine Electricity Market Corp. retains its governance role in WESM.

The takeover finally happened 17 years after the enactment of the Republic Act No. 9136, or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira)—which mandates that the WESM be run by an independent operator—and 12 years after the WESM started commercial operation.

“The IEMOP fulfills the promise of Epira to foster competition in the WESM through an independent market operator,” IEMOP president Francis Saturnino C. Juan said in a statement.

“Our existence and our service usher in the electricity market’s inevitable transformation to a more competitive state for the ultimate benefit of the electricity consumers,” Juan said.

IEMOP is a non-stock, nonprofit corporation governed by a professional board of directors composed of individuals not affiliated with any of the electric companies that trade in the WESM.

The company facilitates the registration and participation of generating companies, distribution utilities, directly connected customers or bulk users, suppliers and contestable customers in the WESM.

IEMOP also determines the hourly schedules of generating units that will supply electricity to the grid, as well as the corresponding spot market prices of electricity via its market management system.