ERC invites consumers to a symposium on retail competition
The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) announces the holding of a symposium on retail competition for customers with at least one megawatt (1 MW) average peak demand. This will be held on March 14, 2006 at 8:30 A.M. to 12:00 noon at the PLDT Hall, 4th Floor, ACB Building, University of Asia and the Pacific, Pearl Drive, Ortigas Center, Pasig City. A follow-up discussion will be held on March 16, 2006 (same time) at the Crowne Plaza Galleria, Ortigas Avenue corner ADB St., Quezon City.
The symposium aims to apprise participants on what retail competition has to offer in terms of choice, price, and quality of customer service. “Attendance to this event will enable customers to pre-position themselves to benefit from the gains of market competition. Regulators from our model jurisdictions, like Victoria, Australia and Texas, USA, will be among our resource persons, ” ERC Chairman Rodolfo B. Albano, Jr. announced.
Competition at the supply/retail level, where consumers have the power to choose their source of electricity, is the ultimate objective of the electricity reform in the Philippines. Customers with at least one megawatt (1 MW) average peak demand for the twelve (12) months immediately preceding retail competition will soon be able to choose their supplier of electricity. At the onset of retail competition, they will no longer be captive customers of the distribution utilities (DUs).
These
customers, collectively called the Contestable Market, will soon have
Retail Electricity Suppliers (RES) knocking at their doors. While the
DU is still responsible for the operation and maintenance of the distribution
wires, it will, on the other hand, no longer control the sourcing of
energy for the Contestable Market. This milestone in the power industry
reforms is expected to take place in 2006.