New timetable for power program set

JOSE RENE D. ALMENDRAS: Open access and retail scheme in 2012 INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Energy Secretary Jose Rene D. Almendras has assured power-generation companies that the implementation of the open access and retail competition scheme would push through by the third quarter of 2012 as he expected the government to complete all the necessary requirements by then.

“The generators are worried that it will not push through. We met with them and we showed them what the potential activities are and they all understood why it cannot be forced to happen,” Almendras said.

“We also discussed with the Senate leadership and even the congressmen and we showed them what needs to be done. Power generators are of course looking forward to that because they expect their margins will improve since you will remove the middlemen,” he further said.

The Energy Regulatory Commission announced Tuesday last week that it has decided to defer the implementation of the open-access scheme as the government would not be able to put in place all the critical infrastructure needed for its operations by December 26 this year.

“A new timeline will be set after the ERC receives the recommendations of the steering committee created by the Department of Energy (DoE),” said ERC executive director Francis Saturnino Juan.

According to Almendras, the DoE was now reviewing the proposed modifications in the timeline or schedule, leading to the implementation of the scheme within the second half of next year. “Open access cannot be implemented during the first half or during the summer season when the peak demand for power is expected to rise, as this may even cause electricity prices to rise.”

“The nice thing about this deferment is that we now have a firm date when we will implement open access and we have a schedule of what needs to be done month on month leading to that firm date. Don’t ask me yet about the firm date as I will have to review it,” Almendras said.

Under the open-access regime, large power users will be able to choose their own electricity suppliers, unlike under the current system where they are limited to the supplier that has jurisdiction over their respective areas. This scheme is expected to further spur competition among power stakeholders, resulting in better, more competitive electricity prices.

The energy chief, however, admitted that they were still reviewing as to whether or not open access could truly help in bringing down electricity rates, particularly at the retail level.

“If you’re talking about the contestable market [or the large power users], yes there’s a chance for electricity prices to go down. But for the rest of the consumers, maybe not yet as their supply is still the same. So we really want to manage it because if you don’t manage the open-access scheme well, it might increase further prices for consumers. That’s why we need to be careful and we need to pace it,” Almendras explained.