THE Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has approved the collection of the remaining amount yet to be paid by power consumers caused by deferred payments at the power reserves market due for February and March 2024.
ERC said in a statement on Thursday the total amount that remains to be collected from consumers stand at around P3.05 billion.
The regulatory body said the amount will be collected from consumers starting in the billing period of January next year.
The energy reserves market was suspended by the ERC earlier this year as its operations became a factor that pushed power rates up.
However, last May, the ERC partially lifted the suspension on settlement amounts in the reserve market to allow power generators partially recover costs for trading transactions for the March billing month.
The move allowed power generators to recover an initial P1.7 billion.
ERC said the P3.05 billion will be collected over a staggered period of three months for trading participants in the Luzon and Mindanao Wholesale Electricity Spot Market and six months for those in Visayas.
The regulatory body added the corresponding rate impact will be P0.124 per kilowatt hour (kWh) for Luzon and Visayas while Mindanao will have a lower rate impact of P0.033 per kWh.
The energy reserves market is the platform where power generators offer their capacities for ancillary services (AS) which is being purchased by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines.
AS serve as the available generating capacity for dispatch to meet contingency reserve requirements when a power generating unit trips or a transmission interconnection problem occurs.
Meanwhile, the ERC reported it has issued a total of 3,959 certificates of compliance (COCs) and 334 provisional authorities to operate (PAOs) for power generation facilities and solar power facilities in the first 11 months of 2024.
The ERC said these power facilities will contribute 24,092.79 megawatts (MW) of supply to the country’s power grid.
The regulatory body said in November alone, it approved 321 COCs and 19 PAOs to generation companies, self-generating facilities, distributed energy resources and qualified end-users nationwide. ERC issues COCs to authorize the operation of power plants or other generating facilities. PAOs allow generation companies to start operations pending the issuance of their COCs. It issues the permits pursuant to the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 which mandates new power generation facilities to secure approval from the ERC prior to operation.
