Firm licensed to sell electricity

REPORT FROM BUSINESSWORLD THE ENERGY Regulatory Commission (ERC) has granted GNPower Mariveles Coal Plant Ltd. Co. a license to operate as a retail electricity supplier (RES) in the open access regime. GNPower Mariveles joins three other RES, including sister company GNPower Ltd. Co., which are authorized to sell, broker, market or aggregate electricity to end-users so they can have a choice of a supplier of electricity. An ERC statement said the permit was signed on Jan. 9. "The entry of GNPower Mariveles in the electric power industry is a welcome development as this signals the advent of customer empowerment through increased choices of suppliers," ERC Chairman and CEO Rodolfo B. Albano, Jr. said. GNPower Mariveles is a partnership that includes GNPower as a limited partner. It was formed in March 2007 to engage in managing the 600-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Mariveles, Bataan. GNPower Mariveles intends to be the main generator or supplier of GNPower customers. This means GNPower can focus on its wholesale aggregator business, the permit for which was granted last October. Middleman As an aggregator, GNPower acts as "middleman" between power generators and distribution utilities. The company can put together small, uncontracted demand for a larger volume to get lower power supply rates. "Wholesale aggregation provides more supply options," the ERC earlier said. An aggregator can at the same time be a RES. Conflicts between the RES and the aggregator, ERC said, would be settled by "market forces." Aside from negotiating bilateral contracts with power generators, aggregators can opt to put the blocks of demand on the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) for short-term sales. They are registered as customers, even if they are not the direct consumers of electricity. So far only Aboitiz Energy has been registered on the WESM as an aggregator-customer, although it is not yet actively trading on the market. — Maria Kristina C. Conti/BusinessWorld