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Friday, March 29, 2024

ERC vows to rule on 100 pending energy petitions

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The Energy Regulatory Commission vowed to issue promulgations on 60 pending and 40 new cases within 60 days after the four suspended commissioners received a 60-day reprieve from the Court of Appeals.

The four commissioners are now back at work, with ERC immediately extending the certificate of compliances and provisional authority to operate of nine generation companies to allow them to trade in the electricity market.

“We have extended the COCs and PAOs of nine gencos so they can continue to operate and participate in the WESM (Wholesale Electricity Spot Market),” ERC chairperson Agnes Devanadera said. WESM operates the country’s electricity spot market.

The development is expected to allay concerns on possible power supply shortage due to the inability of the generators to trade their output at the WESM.

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ERC said it approved two new COCs with a capacity of 175 MW. The regulator is also presently evaluating seven COCs with a capacity of 1,124.7 MW.

ERC is set to inspect eight COCs for renewal of certificates set to expire in June and with a total capacity of 856.68 MW.

The regulator extended the provisional authority of seven generation firms to operate a total capacity of 479.97 MW and granted extension to 19 expiring PAOs with a combined capacity of 510.73 MW.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, head of the Senate committee on energy, is confident reinstatement of the four commissioners at the ERC would avert any power supply shortage during the dry months.

He said the ERC committed to resolve two pending cases everyday over the next 60 days to address a pending backlog following the suspension of four commissioners by the Office of the Ombudsman in December.

The Court of Appeals issued a 60-day temporary restraining order stopping the suspension of the four commissioners.

The Ombudsman ordered a one-year suspension on commissioners Josefina Patricia Asirit, Alfredo Non, Geronimo Sta. Ana and Gloria Yap-Taruc in December for allegedly giving Manila Electric Co. an undue advantage when it extended the submission of its PSA applications.

“Based on their computation, we will not have a power shortage in summer,” Gatchalian said.

Devanadera earlier said with the TRO, the commission could now resume with the regular performance of its duties and functions and act on petitions with urgency.

“We were briefed that approximately 100 cases including power supply agreements (PSAs) will be approved in the next 60. The bottom line is the ERC has an action plan and ERC will be working double time,” Gatchalian said.

He said the pending supply deals of Meralco was not part of the 90 contracts that would have to be deliberated by the ERC.

Meralco, the country’s biggest power distributor, has pending power supply agreements with the ERC totaling over 3,000 MW.

“I think they are carefully evaluating this… Later we will also ask them what is the potential problem if the 3,000 MW is not able to come in,” Gatchalian said.

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