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26th Status Report on EPIRA Implementation

Published on Thursday, 20 August 2015

(Period Covering November 2014 TO APRIL 2015)

I. INTRODUCTION

The implementation to date of Republic Act No. 9136 otherwise known as Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) of 2001 or EPIRA embodies significant achievements in the Government’s effort to ensuring adequacy, affordability, and reliability of electricity services to all electricity end-users in the Philipppines. During this report period, the Government faced major challenges in implementing measures to address the foreseen tight power supply during the Summer Months of 2015, covering the period 01 March to 31 July 2015. Specifically, the Department of Energy (DOE) recommended to the President of the Philippines to trigger Section 71 of EPIRA on Electric Power Crises Provision.

The 26th Status Report on the EPIRA implementation covering the period of November 2014 to April 2015 highlights the following:

  • Updates on the privatization of the remaining assets in particular on Power Barges (PBs) 101-104 and transfer of contract to an Independent Power Producer Administrator (IPPA) of Unified Leyte Geothermal Power Plant (ULGPP) for the Bulk Energy;
  • Continuing turn-over to qualified Distribution Utilities (DU) of the sub-transmission assets (STAs) of the TransCo which has signed one hundred twelve (112) sale contracts with eighty (80) distribution utilities(DUs)/ECs/consortia amounting to about PhP5.90 billion;
  • Updates on electricity rates to include average electricity rates such as the summary of MERALCO residential unbundled power rates and list of Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) Decisions on DU's Rate Applications, updates on universal charge, loan condonation, lifeline rates and mandatory rate reduction;
  • Updates on wholesale electricity spot market (WESM) operations and governance to include operational higlights on price, supply demand, and governance aspects;
  • Monitoring compliance to installed capacity limitation under Section 45 of the EPIRA highlighting the approval of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) relative to the Installed Generating Capacity (IGC) per Grid and National Grid, and the Market Share Limitation (MSL) per Regional Grids and the National Grid applicable for the year 2015;
  • Updates on the implementation of retail competition and open access (RCOA) which highlights the summary of RCOA registration and retail market transaction status;
  • Power supply-demand situation/outlook including reports on the significant Incidents in the power system, outages for 2014, and various initiatives of the DOE pursuant to Section 71 of the EPIRA; and
  • Electrification status to include the household electrification level of the country estimated at 79.9% which corresponds to 17.4 million energized households out of the estimated total household population of 21.8 million.

 

View Complete PDF Report: 26th EPIRA Status Report

 

Department Circular No. DC2013-09-0020

Published on Thursday, 20 August 2015

ADOPTING AMENDMENTS TO THE INTERIM MINDANAO ELECTRICITY MARKET (IMEM) IMPLEMENTING RULES AND PROMULGATING THE IMEM MANUALS 

WHEREAS, Section 2 of Republic Act No. 9136, otherwise known as the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 (EPIRA), declares as a policy of the state to ensure the quality, reliability, security, and affordability of the supply of electric power;

WHEREAS, Republic Act No. 7638 or the "Department of Energy Act of 1992", as amended by Section 37 of the EPIRA, authorizes the DOE to exercise supervision and control over all government activities relative to energy projects and to formulate rules and regulations necessary to implement the objectives of these laws;

CONTINUE READING DEPARTMENT CIRCULAR NO. DC2013-09-0020

 

IMEM MANUALS

ANNEX A - BILLING AND SETTLEMENTS

ANNEX B - DISPUTE RESOLUTION

ANNEX C - INFORMATION PROVISION AND CONFIDENTIALITY

ANNEX D - INVESTIGATION PROCEDURES

ANNEX E - METERING STANDARDS AND PROCEDURES

ANNEX F - REGISTRATION CRITERIA AND PROCEDURES

ANNEX G - DISPATCH PROTOCOL

 

Power Situation in Mindanao

Published on Wednesday, 19 August 2015

Department Circular

DC2012-03-0004 : Directing Compliance with the Electric Power Industry Reform Act Of 2001 (EPIRA) to Address the Power Supply Situation including the Rationalization of the Available Capacities in the Mindanao Grid

Click to read more on Department Circular No. DC2012-03-0004

Press Releases:

Grant Agreement Between the GOP and the US trade and Development Agency

Published on Thursday, 18 June 2015

The Government of the Philippines (GOP) through the Department of Energy (DOE) as the executing agency and the National Power Corporation (NPC) as the implementing agency entered into a Grant Agreement with the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (US-TDA) for the Development of Detailed Specifications for the Software Metering, Communications and Other Relevant (IT) Systems Needed to Support the Philippine Electricity Market Operations.

This study is in line with the on-going effort of the GOP to restructure the power industry that will pave the way for the separation of the generation, transmission, distribution and supply activities into dependent business sectors thereby creating competition in the sector of generation and supply through appropriate infrastructure that will facilitate the trading of electricity at market determined prices.

The DOE seeks to develop a conceptual framework, design and implement a competitive wholesale electricity market for the Philippines. The basic objective of this project is to determine and develop the detailed functional and operational specifications of the power pooling software systems needed to support the operation of a wholesale market for electricity.

The request for proposal was advertised last 24 August 2000 by the US-TDA in the U.S. Commerce Business Daily. Specifics on what is required of bidders including the scope of work can be found at the US-TDA website ( http://www.tda.gov/pipeline/section3.html ).

Rule 5. Generation Sector

Published on Friday, 5 June 2015

Section 1. Guiding Principle.

Pursuant to Section 6 of the Act, generation of electric power, a business affected with public interest, shall be competitive and open to all qualified Generation Companies. Generation shall not be considered a public utility operation. For this purpose, any Person engaged or intending to engage in Generation of Electricity shall not be required to secure a national franchise.

No Person may engage in the Generation of Electricity as a new Generation Company unless such Person has received a COC from the ERC to operate facilities used in the Generation of Electricity. A Person that demonstrates compliance with the standards and requirements of this Rule 5, and such other terms and conditions as determined by the ERC to be appropriate to ensure that Persons comply with all applicable legal and regulatory requirements, shall be issued a COC.

Section 2. Scope of Application.

This Rule shall apply to all facilities used or to be used for the Generation of Electricity, including but not limited to the following:

(a) Existing Generation Facilities.

Existing Generation Facilities shall include:

(i) Spin-off Facilities of NPC or their transferees, including Generation Facilities owned by NPC transferred to PSALM and subsequently privatized pursuant to the Act;

(ii) Agus and Pulangui Complexes;

(iii) Facilities owned and operated by SPUG;

(iv) Accredited facilities under BOT arrangement and other variants with NPC, SPUG, National Irrigation Administration (NIA), Philippine National Oil Company-Energy Development Corporation (PNOC-EDC) and other government agencies;

(v) Accredited facilities under BOT arrangement and other variant with Distribution Utilities;

(vi) Facilities Owned or Operated by a Distribution Utility;

(vii) Facilities under Contract with a Distribution Utility;

(viii) Self-Generation Facilities;

(ix) Facility operating in EZs; and

(x) Facility operating in isolated areas.

(b) Generation Facilities Under Construction.

Generation Facilities under construction shall include:

(i) DOE-Accredited Facility under BOT arrangement and other variants with NPC, SPUG, PNOC-EDC, NIA and other government agencies;

(ii) DOE-Accredited Facility under BOT arrangement and other variants with Distribution Utilities;

(iii) Non DOE-Accredited Facility under contract with Distribution Utilities;

(iv) Self-Generation Facility;

(v) Facility locating in EZs; and

(vi) Facility operating in isolated areas.

(c) New Generation Facilities

New Generation Facilities shall include:

(i) Any newly-constructed facility with appropriate health, safety and environmental clearances connected to the Grid;

(ii) Any facility currently under BOT arrangement and other variants with NPC, SPUG, PNOC-EDC, other government agencies, and government- owned and- controlled corporations; and

(iii) Any facility that shall operate in an isolated area.

(d) This Rule shall also apply to the PSALM-appointed IPP Administrators.
 

Section 3. Ownership Limitation.

No Generation Company, Distribution Utility, or its respective subsidiary or Affiliate or stockholder or official of a Generation Company or Distribution Utility, or other entity engaged in generating and supplying electricity specified by ERC within the fourth civil degree of consanguinity or affinity, legitimate or common law, shall be allowed to hold any interest, directly or indirectly, in TRANSCO or its Buyer or Concessionaire. Likewise, the TRANSCO or its Buyer or Concessionaire or any of its stockholders or officials or any of their relatives within the fourth civil degree of consanguinity or affinity, legitimate or common law, shall not hold any interest, whether directly or indirectly, in any Generation Company or Distribution Utility. Except for ex officio government-appointed representatives, no Person who is an officer or director of the TRANSCO or its Buyer or Concessionaire shall be an officer or director of any Generation Company, Distribution Utility or Supplier. This section shall not apply to PSALM during the period that its generation assets are being privatized pursuant to Section 47 of the Act.
 

Section 4. Obligations of a Generation Company.

(a) A COC shall be secured from the ERC before commercial operation of a new Generation Facility. The COC shall stipulate all... Read more

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