The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) said it will coordinate with the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) and three energy giants to address Power Supply Agreements (PSAs) following the approval of their integrated liquefied natural gas (LNG) project.
ERC Chairperson Monalisa Dimalanta stated the commission will work on the PSAs related to the LNG terminal project following the approval of the joint partnership between Meralco PowerGen Corp. (MGEN), Therma Natgas Power Inc. (Therma), and San Miguel Global Power Holdings Corp. (San Miguel Power).
Dimalanta said the ERC can complete its evaluation of PSAs from South Premiere Power Corp. (SPPC) and Excellent Energy Resources, Inc. (EERI) once it receives a copy of the PCC's decision.
“I understand that they’ll also meet with us on this because there are [voluntary] commitments, and there were commitments made by the parties that also involve us, so we’ll need to coordinate,” Dimalanta said.
“We need to ensure that whoever the PCC has determined to be in control of [the project], we will need to revisit on the power plant side compliance with our market share limitations,” she added.
The ERC chief explained that the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) limits market share to 30 percent per grid for power generation entities and 25 percent for the national grid.
The ERC annually adjusts these figures based on the maximum capacity of generation facilities.
"We have a limit in EPIRA, so we have to ensure the market share doesn't exceed it," she said.
Dimalanta emphasized the importance of addressing terminal ownership. "Whoever controls the terminal has control over the fuel for that asset," she stated.