DOE, ERC back removal of expiration for Joint Congressional Energy Commission

The Department of Energy and the Energy Regulatory Commission on Friday expressed their approval for the bill which would remove the expiration date of the Joint Congressional Energy Commission - an oversight body for the implementation of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) and other energy-related laws.

During the Senate Committee on Energy hearing Friday, the DOE said it would rely on the wisdom of Congress whether to lift the expiration of the JCEC or not.

“The Congress knows better when these laws were passed. Congress fully established the objectives on how to attain this. Congress has its timeline and on our part we implement and work on it. Whether we lift this monitoring power it is up to Congress. You know better than us on that,” DOE Assistant Secretary Gerardo Erguiza Jr. told the Senate panel.

He was pressed by Senator Imee Marcos to provide a categorical answer, noting that the DOE “certainly has a position” on the said bill.

“Just by way of record, the DOE poses no opposition to the removal of expiration period recommended by my chairman?” Marcos asked, to which Erguiza answered “yes.”

The ERC meanwhile expressed its full support for the removal of the expiration of the JCEC.

“We found the role of JCEC as very, very significant because when we are looking for directions… we found some direction and a forum in the JCEC,” ERC Chair Agnes Devanadera said.

“That is the reason why we are grateful that JCEC is there and of course, needless to say, that it should continue,” she added.

She said the JCEC has been serving as a platform where the stakeholders and the government agencies meet to settle any disputes.

“One of the things that we can credit the JCEC is to bring together the agencies and the stakeholders, who otherwise, have no forum to discuss the matter and this, we see, that we are avoiding unnecessary cases filed in court,” she said.

“We may not agree with each other, but we agree to agree, and agree to disagree. And maybe the disagreements, these are the things that can be addressed through legislation,” she added.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, chair of the Senate Energy Committee, filed Senate Bill 2154 which proposes the removal of the expiration period of the JCEC “to allow regular review and if needed, amendments, of the EPIRA” and to ensure that the goals and objectives of the Renewable Energy Act, Electric Cooperatives Emergency and Resiliency Fund Act, Anti-Obstruction of Power Uries Act, and Murang Kuryente Act, among others, are fully achieved and implemented.

The JCEC, formerly known as the Joint Congressional Power Commission (JCPC), was formed on the enactment of the EPIRA Law in 2001.

The body was set to exist 10 years after the effectivity of the EPIRA but it was further extended for another 10 years or until June 26, 2021 through Joint Resolution No. 1, Series of 2010 Extending the Period of Existence of the Joint Congressional Power Commission. — DVM, GMA News