ERC restarts probe on power price collusion

MANILA, Philippines - With the appointment of a new chief, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) will commence the much-delayed probe on the case of the 12 power players found to have withheld power supply in December 2013 with a pre-hearing conference by end-August.

Resolving the case within the year, however, may be a long shot for the power regulator.

The ERC is now consolidating the responses of the 12 power players after they were given copies of the complaint, ERC commissioner Gloria Victoria Yap-Taruc told reporters in a briefing late Monday.

“What we envision is by the end of August, we will have some sort of pre-hearing (conference) with all the respondents to lay down the terms of reference and procedure,” she said.

To be decided in the pre-hearing conference is if ERC will hear the case per company or all at the same time.

“One thing we have to settle is if we will consolidate all the cases or if we will hear it individually,” Yap-Taruc said.

However, the official said the ERC may not be able to close the case within the year.

The ERC’s Investigating Unit (IU) released its report last June that 12 power players withheld power supply, considered an anti-competitive behavior, during the December 2013 period that led to the record-high increase in electricity rates.

The IU report stated the power players are state-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM), Pan-Asia Energy Holdings, ThermaMobile (TMO), CIP II Power Corp., Trans-Asia Power Corp., 1590 Bauang, AP Renewables, Udenna Management Resources Corp., Strategic Power, GNPower, SEM-Calaca and Manila Electric Co. (Meralco).

During that time, Meralco’s generation charge rose to P9.10 per kilowatt-hour in December 2013 and to P10.23 per kwh in January 2014.

This led the Supreme Court to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) on Meralco to charge the record-high power rates to its customers.

The case has finally moved after the appointment of Justice Undersecretary Jose Vicente Salazar as chairman of the ERC until July 10, 2022.

He replaced Zenaida Ducut, whose seven-year term ended last July 10.

In the same briefing, Salazar assured the ERC will be impartial and fair in deciding the fate of the 12 power players.

“Of course, you have to remember that I am the chair but I have four other commissioners with me. I only have one vote out of the five,” he said.

The ERC is a collegial body, which means that decisions are not based on just one person.