SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian has called on the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to expedite the implementation of the Retail Competition Open Access (RCOA) at the household level.
Gatchalian wants to give ordinary consumers more control over their electricity consumption.
Initially implemented in 2013, RCOA currently allows consumers with a monthly peak demand of at least 500 kilowatts (kW) to switch to retail electricity suppliers within the Competitive Retail Electricity Market (CREM), benefiting from lower rates compared to traditional distribution utilities.
To advance this initiative, Gatchalian urged the ERC to lower the eligibility threshold, enabling more consumers to participate in the program.
He acknowledged that while the RCOA cannot be implemented immediately for households due to technical constraints, the ERC needs to establish a transition plan.
“Without the transition plan, distribution utilities will not move forward because the status quo benefits them. Our goal is to empower consumers,” Gatchalian stated.
