Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian yesterday urged the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to fully implement the Retail Competition and Open Access (RCOA) so consumers can enjoy competitive electricity prices.
This was after Gatchalian noted ERC reported consumers using electricity services from retail electricity suppliers (RES) generated savings of around P50 billion as of June this year.
He said lowering the threshold from 500 kilowatts to 100 kWh for contestable consumers or electricity end-users would “further enhance competition and consumer choice” that can promote greater reliability and affordability of electricity and translating into even bigger savings for consumers.
RCOA is a framework designed to promote competition in the retail electricity market that allows consumers to choose their RES and not be dependent on the contracted supply by their distribution utilities.
Under the RCOA structure, which became effective in June 2013, contestable consumers or electricity end-users with monthly average peak demand falling under the threshold of contestability as determined by ERC have a choice to select a supplier of electricity.
In March , the ERC approved the eligibility threshold for participation in the retail market in Mindanao pegged at an average monthly peak demand of at least 500 kilowatts for the 12 preceding months, consistent with the threshold established in Luzon and Mindanao.
The ERC is now considering lowering the threshold to 100 kWh a month, which means more electricity end-users may qualify for the program
“We expect more consumers to exercise the flexibility to switch suppliers as soon as ERC lowers the threshold. This will in turn enhance the competitiveness of many of our local business supportive of economic growth,” Gatchalian said.
He said in addition to lowering the threshold, the ERC should also help enable consumers and other market players to switch suppliers with minimum difficulty.
