I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY  

The 35th Status Report on Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) of 2001 implementation covers the period May to October 2019 which includes significant accomplishments, developments and continuing challenges undertaken by the attached agencies as mandated under the EPIRA.

The Power Sector Assests and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM) will commence the second round of bidding tentatively in November 2019 held for the privatization of the Malaya Thermal Power Plant and continue to privatization activities other remaining plants and National Power Corporation-Independent Power Producer (NPC-IPP) contracts, and the disposal of other disposable assets to include real estate and unserviceable assets, and waste and junk materials. With regard to the reduction in PSALM’s foreign debts, as of September 2019, the remaining balance is down to PhP425 billion from the peak of PhP1.23 Trillion as of year 2003 or a decrease of PhP816 billion from the enactment of the EPIRA in 2001.

The Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP) continuously accepts registration requirements from Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) Mindanao participants. Further, all Mindanao Stakeholders, PEMC, IEMOP (as Market Operator), NGCP (as System Operator and Metering Service Provider), Generation Companies, Private Distribution Utilities, Electric Cooperatives, and Directly Connected Customers are being assessed for their respective readiness to implement WESM in Mindanao.

With regard to the implementation of the Retail Competition and Open Access, the DOE promulgated further adopted policies thru Department Circular No. DC2019-07-0011, entitled “Amending Various Issuances on the implementation of RCOA” which provides for the voluntary registration of the CCs in the WESM as Trading Participants and designating the IMO as the Central Registration Body.

In terms of the electricity pricing as of June 2019, the country’s average electricity rates is around PhP8.71/kWh, PhP0.14 centavos higher compared with the March 2019 national average systems rate. For Luzon grid, as of June 2019, the rate was around PhP9.28/kWh compared in March 2019 at PhP8.66/kWh. For Visayas, it increased by 6 centavos/kwh while in Mindanao grid, there was a decrease by 43 centavos/kWh.

The country’s total peak demand in the first half of 2019 was recorded at 15,713 MW, which is 931 MW or 6.3% higher than the 14,782 MW in 2018. The Luzon grid contributed 11,476 MW or 73.0% of the total demand with an increase of 600 MW or 5.5% from the 2018 peak demand of 10,876 MW, while Visayas and Mindanao contributed a share of 14.2% (2,224 MW) and 12.8% (2,013 MW), respectively.

The household electrification level as of September 2019 is around 98.33%. Said level corresponds to 22.60 million energized HHs out of 22.98 million identified and targeted HH population based from the 2015 Census of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Click to view/download the 35th EPIRA Implementation Status Report