New Power Regulation, Bad For All Sectors
Power sector watchdog Bantay Kuryente laments the recently issued retail competition and open access (RCOA) policy regulations of the Department of Energy(DOE) and the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).
Under this latest policy, consumers with a peak demand of at least 1 MW have until February 26, 2017 to comply with the new rules. To comply, consumers will be forced to break-out of existing contracts and enter into new deals with new suppliers even at higher cost.
According to Bantay Kuryente Secretary General Pet Climaco “the policy will only result in higher electricity prices for consumers and businesses alike.” Climaco further criticized the questionable timing of the ERC’s push for mandatory contestability. “With such a tight deadline, rushing into this new energy regime will catch consumers and businesses off guard”, Climaco said.
“Faced with the risk of brown-outs if supply contracts are not secured by the February deadline, the ERC’s policy could force consumers into entering unfavorable contracts just to meet this unrealistic deadline set by the ERC”, Climaco added.
This is why Bantay Kuryente lauds the move of the Philippine Chamber of
Commerce & Industry (PCCI), Ateneo De Manila University, San Beda College(Alabang) and mall owner Riverbanks Development Corporation to question the policy in the Supreme Court.
“This shows that there is multi-sectoral opposition to the ERC’s new policy.” Climaco added. Business groups, academic institutions, consumers and civil society must continue to rally against unrealistic and anti-consumer policies of the ERC, Climaco said.