ERC still to probe alleged WESM price spikes

Despite mounting pressure from groups, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) said Tuesday it is yet to resolve the alleged price manipulation at the wholesale energy market in February that caused spikes in the cost of electricity. “The investigation is still ongoing. There have been preliminary studies, but there are still others that have to be looked into. In a few weeks or months, maybe we would be able to come up with a decision and make it public," ERC Executive Director Saturnino Juan told GMANews.TV. Juan refused to give further details. Albay Gov. Jose Salceda, former economic adviser of outgoing President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, claimed in February that prices at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) – the floor where buyers and sellers trade electricity – spiked to P68 per kilowatt hour (kWh) or way above the National Power Corp.’s P4.02/kWh. "All we are saying is that the regulator should look into this. Power is not a commodity that could not go up this fast. The figures surprised us. This cannot be explained by demand and supply," Salceda was quoted in earlier reports as saying. That was not true, Juan said also in earlier reports. "Based on initial findings, hindi naman umabot dun." GMANews.TV called Salceda on his cellphone, but got no reply. On Thursday, advocacy group Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) reminded Juan of his Feb. 24 statement when he said the agency was “already looking into the issue" and could “initiate an investigation on [its] own and make the appropriate recommendation." “We believe that three months is more than enough to conduct such an investigation on whether an anti-competitive market behavior really happened at WESM or not. It’s time to reveal the result," FDC vice president Loretta Ann Rosales said in a statement. The FDC statement came after Philippine Electricity Market Corp. (PEMC), the WESM administrator, passed on to ERC the task of investigating the supposed price manipulation from Jan. 26 to Feb. 25, 2010, the subject of a complaint jointly lodged by distributors Manila Electric Co. and Dagupan Electric Corp. “The ball is in the hands of ERC now. As advocates, we urge the ERC to finally reveal and punish the culprits to this anti-consumer operation," Rosales said. Section 45 of Republic Act 9136 – the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 or EPIRA – imposes a fine of P50,000 to P50 million on anti-competitive behavior of power utility firms. “We will continue to assert our petition before the ERC. Their accountability to the public is to do their homework. It becomes incumbent for them to provide checks and balances and address any question of abuse in the power industry," Rosales told GMANews.TV in a separate interview Tuesday. Rosales urged the ERC to hold public hearings on WESM’s possible abuse of authority as Salceda alleged in February. Earlier, former Energy chief Angelo Reyes ordered PEMC to investigate Salceda’s allegations and “validate the veracity of facts mentioned by the good governor." Tight supply in Luzon could have been the reason for the price irregularity that led to the use of more expensive electricity from oil-based facilities instead of that produced at a lower cost by hydropower plants, Reyes said. Power distributors are mandated to buy at least a tenth of their power requirements from WESM.–VS, GMANews.TV