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MANILA - The Department of Energy may be unable to meet its December target for the start of open access in the power sector, as the agency has yet to issue the implementing rules, Secretary Jose Rene D. Almendras said on Wednesday.
"We’re reviewing the details again with the Energy Regulatory Commission. We're asking for declarations that are needed, the rules, all that. We’re working on it [but] we haven’t got a report yet," he said.
Open access aims to spur competition and efficiency in the power sector by allowing consumers to choose their energy source. At present, distribution utilities buy electricity from suppliers on behalf of their customers.
The DOE earlier set a December 26 deadline for the start of open access although it has yet to complete proposed amendments to the scheme's implementing rules and regulations.
Because of this, Almendras said they may opt for a "partial implementation", which he did not elaborate on.
"There are models being looked at to do partial implementing. I’m not at liberty to discuss them yet but our teams are working on it. We have a group of people we are consulting," he added.
The department is still conducting public consultations on proposed amendments to the IRR, which include mandatory participation of qualified customers, the participation of economic zones, the inclusion of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market among the suppliers from whom participants may source their requirements, a minimum one-year supply contract upon initial implementation of open access, supplier switching requirements, among others.
The DOE aims to promulgate the proposed amendments by end-September, after which state-administered Philippine Electricity Market Corp., which was earlier tasked to oversee all transactions pertaining to open access, will start to integrate the rules into the WESM. PEMC targets to complete this within October.
Once these are completed, distribution utilities and retail electricity suppliers will also need time to synchronize their respective systems and infrastructures with open access rules and requirements.
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