The National Association of Electricity Consumers for Reforms (Nasecore) has urged the Department of Energy (DOE) to scrap its rules on competitive selection processes (CSP) for setting electricity rates, arguing they lead to higher costs for consumers.
Nasecore said in a June 3 letter to the DOE the existing CSP circular, which governs the awarding of power supply contracts, “clearly failed to uphold its core objectives of transparency, fair competition, and least-cost power supply procurement.”
Nasecore president Pete Ilagan said in the letter that the group’s monitoring of rates and power supply deals revealed “the CSP mechanism has not delivered meaningful market competition.”
“No new independent or reliable power suppliers have been introduced into Meralco’s generation mix in the past decade,” Nasecore said.
The group alleged that some power supply agreement (PSA) rates have risen steadily due to the CSP rules, with distribution utilities exploiting exemptions, emergency procurements or procedural discretion to bypass genuine competition.
Nasecore noted there has been no new market player in the power supply segment of electricity distribution for over 10 years.
“Without urgent reform, Filipino consumers will remain at the mercy of anti-competitive arrangements and ever-rising electricity costs,” it said.
Nasecore asked the DOE to declare the current CSP framework a policy failure and acknowledge its inability to ensure transparent, competitive and cost-effective procurement.
The group proposed a “comprehensive overhaul” of the CSP circular, starting with a DOE-led, multi-stakeholder review to assess power distributors’ adherence to CSP rules and procurement guidelines. Nasecore also advocated for full public disclosure of CSP documents, including bid criteria, evaluations and awarded contracts.