ERC to regulate firms giving electricity in unviable areas

The Energy Regulatory Commission has issued a resolution regulating the operations of qualified third parties performing electrification in areas that the Department of Energy has declared not viable.

The resolution stipulates that qualified third parties, or QTPs, should first obtain permits from ERC before they are allowed to operate in areas that are isolated or areas that are not covered by the DOE electrification program.

QTPs are alternative electric service providers that the ERC had authorized and deemed qualified to serve areas that are isolated and not feasible for electrification.

The resolution over QTPs will enable the ERC to determine which of them are operating in unviable areas.

ERC said it must ensure and accelerate the total electrification of the country and enhance inflow of private capital and participation of private sector, and energize remote areas in the country through the QTPs.

The ERC held several public hearings through various major cities in the country and it received various comments from interested parties over the guidelines to regulate QTPs.

The guidelines, as outlined in the approved resolution, said that an entity that the DOE had pre-qualified and selected as a prospective QTP shall apply at the ERC to obtain authorization to provide electricity service in unviable areas.

ERC said that in the event that no QTP qualifies to provide electricity service to a declared unviable area, the National Power Corporation-Small Power Utility Group shall step in and be the one to provide electricity and perform the functions of a QTP. - Wenna A. Berondo