ERC firmed up rules for regulated electric distribution services
The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) promulgated on January 18, 2006 the rules, terms and conditions for regulated electric distribution services and for open access, also known as the Distribution Services and Open Access Rules (DSOAR). Under this Guidelines, all distribution utilities (DUs), including those operating in the economic zones, should be ready to provide a variety of services to the captive and contestable markets in a reliable, efficient and economical manner. DSOAR also includes templates for related undertakings or agreements between the DUs and their customers.
The DSOAR, considered as the ‘Bible’ for the DUs, is designed to cover the various service combinations in the new DU environment created by the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA). It includes terms and conditions related to the provision of services to the captive and contestable markets, Supplier of Last Resort (SoLR) and Distribution Connection Assets and Services (DCAS). It further sets forth the procedures for establishing regulated service rates for DUs pursuant to the Distribution Wheeling Rate Guidelines (DWRG) and for DUs who are non- DWRG entrants.
DU services in the contestable market include provision of unbundled distribution wheeling service to Retail Electricity Suppliers (RESs), the SoLR, other DUs, generators, and DCAS to end-users. With the implementation of open access and retail competition, the list of possible DU customers includes end-users, RESs, the SoLR, generators, and other DUs.
The
DSOAR requires that services to the captive market (comprising of both
the residential and non-residential end-users) are similar to services
before the EPIRA which are now restructured under the unbundled rates,
removal of cross subsidies, and separate connection policy regulation
under DWRG, all geared towards maintaining a regular supply of electricity
throughout the DUs’ franchise areas. It also requires all DUs
to make available, upon reasonable request, all regulated services,
at rates, terms and conditions that are just and equitable to all customers.
Service obligations of the DUs as provided in the Magna Carta for Residential
Electricity Consumers and those rules and regulations set by the then
Energy Regulatory Board (ERB), as far as applicable, complement the
DSOAR.
Applicable provisions set in the Standard Rules and Regulations Governing
the Operation of Electrical Power Services of the then ERB, and ERB
Resolution No. 95-21 (as amended by ERB Case No. 95-368) are now superseded
by the DSOAR. “The change in the landscape of the electric power
industry into a competitive market and the paradigm shift in the services
the industry has to offer, necessitates this reform,” ERC Chairman
Rodolfo B. Albano, Jr. emphasized.
February
20, 2006