An independent investigation by the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) is being sought on the forced outages of power plants that caused the May 31-June 1 rotating blackouts as well as hikes in electric bills this June. The proposal was put forward by the advocacy group Laban Konsyumer Inc. (LKI);...
The Philippine Electricity Market Corporation (PEMC), which is the governance body overseeing the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (PEMC), has been ordered to defer the collection of at least P0.20 per kilowatt hour (kWh) adjustment on its net settlement surplus (NSS) charges. The ruling, which...
The Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP) admitted that it is “clueless” whether investigations had been done by the market surveillance committee (MSC) of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) or the regulators on the recurrent price spikes that happened...
Senator Risa Hontiveros on Thursday questioned the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) over its P448-million expenses on advertisements and entertainment, saying these should not be passed on to electricity consumers as these are not critical to power transmission operations. “It...
Senator Risa Hontiveros on Tuesday, June 15 urged the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to investigate Manila Electric Co.'s (Meralco) recent announcement of a power rate hike for June saying it “defies logic” even under the regime of deregulation. Hontiveros said the ERC must provide a...
The generation companies (GenCos) which primarily caused the brownout-incidents in Luzon grid this year will face another round of investigation at the Senate this week. According to Senate Committee on Energy Chairman Sherwin T. Gatchalian, the focus of investigation on Thursday (June 17) will be...
Distribution utilities (DUs) as well as retail buyers of electricity can soon opt for demand-side bidding at a price that they prefer once that is introduced as a new trading mechanism in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market. According to Julius Bunyi, manager for Corporate Strategy and Program...
Consumers in the Luzon grid will be spared from suffering brownouts in the coming weeks if the first 668-megawatt unit 1 of the GNPower Dinginin coal-fired power plant in Bataan can come back on-line by next week, according to the Department of Energy. DOE Director Mario C. Marasigan of the...
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Friday said he has “grave reservations” over the Department of Energy’s (DOE) proposal to revert the control of the country’s power grid back to the government. Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy, pointed out corruption was the main reason...
The Department of Energy (DOE) is seeking government’s return to power generation business to primarily serve the power system’s requirement for reserves or ancillary services. Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi said the proposal is anchored on “allowing the government to engage in limited...
The Department of Energy (DOE) said erring power generation companies (GenCos) are being investigated for possible collusion that resulted in brownouts this year even as it raised alarm of high probabilities of power outages until July this year. “We are already investigating these power plants...
The Department of Energy (DOE) on Thursday assured it is investigating if there is indeed possible collusion among power distribution firms to ascertain if this is the cause of the recent rotational brownouts that occurred in Luzon. DOE chief Alfonso Cusi told the Senate Energy Committee the agency...
