Electricity spot market seek regulator's intervention on soaring prices

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Electricity Market Corp. may temporarily suspend the wholesale electricity spot market (WESM) operations if the Energy Regulatory Commission fails to intervene with power price spikes. "That (temporary suspension of WESM) is an option. But we prefer that the ERC does something about it first. The ERC can intervene and correct these prices and effect a time-of-use rate," PEMC President Lasse Holopainen said. He said PEMC has discussed at least three ways for the ERC to intervene as the spot market price of electricity went up by almost 400 percent in July. Citing PEMC computations, Holopainen said if the July prices were not adjusted, the effective settlement price for electricity paid by distributors like the Manila Electric Co. would be around P18 per kilowatt hour (kWh) with the settlement surplus and P9 per kWh without the settlement surplus. The rates are higher than the P2.45 per kWh settlement price in June. This could mean a P1 addition on consumer bills but Holopainen said the higher settlement prices are not yet billed to the traders and are not yet passed on to consumers. - GMANews.TV