With allegedly more than 4,200 pending cases waiting like unpaid electric bills, newly designated Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) Chairman Francis Saturnino “Nino” Juan and his fellow Commissioners aren't walking smoothly into the office. Instead, they're stepping into a regulatory crunch zone where the backlog could short-circuit the entire power sector if not resolved with urgency.

Atty. Juan’s appointment has energized the industry like a fully charged grid, drawing cheers from ERC employees and nods of approval from various segments of the energy sector. Many are relieved to have a leader who doesn’t need to fumble through a learning curve before taking hold of the regulatory levers that matter.

The incoming Chair doesn’t just know the rulebook; he is familiar with the loopholes, the landmines, and the "shadow plays" in this complex industry. This gives him the rare insider’s edge to guide him toward balanced rulings in an industry where what’s unwritten often carries the most weight in decisions and rulemaking.

Atty. Juan has already seen the power industry from different angles. He previously served as the ERC’s Executive Director, then as President of the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP)—the operating entity of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) during its transition phase. He was also an independent director of Synergy Grid & Development Phils. Inc., the holding company of system operator National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), and a principal advisor to Climate Smart Ventures (CSV), an advisory firm for energy transition initiatives in the Asian region.

The moment Malacañang broke the news of his appointment last week, the industry buzzed with one defining query: whose side is he really on, and who are his backers?

To be fair to Atty. Nino, he has already earned his credibility for fairness and judiciously balancing competing interests—a reputation he solidified during his tenure as ERC Executive Director under former Chairperson Zenaida Cruz-Ducut.

In energy circles, where gossip or chismis runs faster than the grid and has been the industry’s favorite pastime long before “Marites” hit the scene, Atty. Juan was not tangled in whispers of favoritism toward any business group. That’s exactly why his comeback to the ERC was greeted not with skepticism, but with a roar of approval.

He also knows full well that his new tenure at the ERC won’t be a free ride. His every move will be under the microscope, and every ruling will be fair game for scrutiny. Relevant industry stakeholders will be watching closely to gauge if he remains the even-handed arbiter they’ve come to respect or if he will succumb to the pressures of partiality.

The energy sector’s unspoken plea is this: the new ERC leadership must wield the scales with unyielding balance. The ERC Chair and Commissioners must craft decisions and rules that not only build investor confidence but also protect consumers’ welfare. One energy executive has a far more targeted prayer: "No more of that ₱0.06 per kilowatt-hour ancillary services charge!"

‘Underperformance’ sparked ERC leadership reset?

While outgoing ERC Chair Monalisa C. Dimalanta painted a rosy picture upon her exit last week—citing a downward trend in generation charges and the enforcement of the retail aggregation program as key proof points—Malacañang’s own review tells a different story.

“A review by the Office of the President had seen ‘underperformance’ at the ERC under the outgoing Chair’s leadership, and that prompted the shakeup at the Commission,” a highly placed source noted.

The Palace reportedly took sharp aim at the Commission due to a staggering backlog of over 4,200 unresolved cases. This includes stalled approvals of power supply agreements (PSAs) and ancillary services procurement agreements (ASPAs), gridlocked point-to-point connections, languishing capital expenditure (capex) petitions, more than 2,000 show-cause orders still awaiting resolution, and a scramble of rulemaking processes choking in bureaucratic inertia.

Based on data from Malacañang’s review, decision-making delays typically spanned six months to more than two years. This regulatory lag has not only crippled the delivery of reliable energy services but also triggered rate spikes in consumers’ electric bills and throttled capital flow in the sector.

In addition, complaints have been raised about protracted approvals of PSAs and cost-recovery petitions for service providers in off-grid and remote communities. This has resulted in worsening blackouts or erratic power services for consumers in many areas of the country, including those served by the state-run National Power Corporation.

Even the regulatory reset of power utilities has crawled at a glacial pace over the past three years, with repeated delays in tariff adjustments. This has undermined the very essence of the forward-looking performance-based rate setting (PBR) methodology prescribed under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA), exposing a regulatory framework that has fallen out of sync with the deregulation tenets of the power sector.

The stack of delayed approvals—extending across PSAs, rate resets, capex clearances, and the issuance of certificates of compliance (COCs) that are critical to seamless power plant operations—will be front and center on the upcoming ERC Chair’s agenda. It will be a laser-focused mandate for the Commission to swiftly tackle and resolve these issues upon Atty. Juan’s assumption of office by August 8.

Is there still a ‘purge in progress’ at the DOE?

As the new Energy Secretary has already stepped in, the compelling question among industry stakeholders is whether the reorganization will stop at the top or if the axe will fall next on the DOE Undersecretaries.

By far, Energy Secretary Sharon Garin has been keeping her cards close to her chest. Industry observers are guessing whether she’ll build a fresh inner circle at the DOE or if she will rely on her colleagues from her Undersecretary days to collaboratively steer the department through the tricky terrain of policy enforcement.

While most newly appointed Cabinet officials swiftly demanded courtesy resignations from co-terminus officials—particularly Undersecretaries and Assistant Secretaries—the DOE stands apart with no such shakeup yet, although speculation is mounting that key posts may still eventually see some new faces.

Until the smoke settles on the ongoing behind-the-scenes power maneuvers, a cloud of uncertainty will continue to hamstring the energy sector, jeopardizing not only the rollout of crucial policies and programs but, more dangerously, strangling the vital investment lifelines that are badly needed to fortify the country’s economic backbone.

Between the two key agencies in the energy sector, industry stakeholders are more apprehensive at this point about the DOE's forward policy direction, especially since it is glaringly evident that the new Secretary is still learning on the job.

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