DOE issues RCOA circular

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Energy (DOE) has issued a department circular mandating the use of retail market manuals for the implementation of a new regime in the power sector.

The so-called Retail Competition and Open Access (RCOA) allows businesses to be able to decide for themselves which provider is in the best position to supply its needs.

Last month, the DOE and the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), together with the Philippine Electricity Market Corp. (PEMC), administrator of the Wholesale Electricity Spot market (WESM) launched the commercial operations and integration of the so-called RCOA into the WESM or the country’s electricity trading floor.

PEMC is the Central Registration Body (CRB) of the RCOA, a regime mandated under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001.

Contestable customers or those with electricity demand of at least one-megawatt. So far, only 239 out of 909 applicants, have received approval to participate in the new regime.

In a circular dated July 9, Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla mandated the adoption of the following retail manuals: Registration Criteria and Procedures, Market Transactions Procedures, Disclosure and Confidentiality of Contestable Customer Information and on Metering Standards and Procedures.

The Manual on Registration Criteria and Procedures shall provide the requirements and procedures for the registration of contestable customers, suppliers and retail metering service providers in the WESM.

The Manual on Market Transactions Procedures covers the criteria, guidelines and procedures for the criteria, guidelines and procedures for the customer switching requests from suppliers, contestable customer relocation and termination of supply contracts that will be administered by the CRB.

The manual on disclosure and confidentiality of contestable customer information, meanwhile, covers the types of contestable customer information that may be subject to disclosure and available for dissemination and the procedures for requesting and the release of contestable customer information.