THE GOVERNMENT is amenable to the postponement of open access if ordered by regulators but noted the delay should not last more than a year, an Energy official said.
The Energy department, however, is still hopeful open access could still push through this December. It is currently evaluating the possibility of postponement due to the lack of infrastructure for the system.
“If we do recommend for the postponement, it should not be too long and there must be a definite schedule of activities. It can happen next year after summer,” said Energy Secretary Jose Rene D. Almendras in an interview with reporters.
He added, however, that the department is still awaiting recommendation of a technical working group on open access.
Open access is a regime where electricity users who consume one megawatt (MW) and up can choose where to source their electricity from.
The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) earlier said it will declare open access by Dec. 26.
However, distribution utilities have requested the ERC to postpone the declaration of open access because systems that will monitor and settle transactions in the open access regime are not yet ready. The utilities said rules for open access have yet to be released by the regulator. The ERC could not be reached for comment.
Mr. Almendras said the government expects to finish its evaluation of open access preparedness soon.
“The ERC is listening to petitions on open access and the technical working group of the government is also doing an evaluation,” he said, adding the government is studying if the open access regime “can be done semi-manually as long as the meter reading can happen at a good pace.”
Power generators earlier said the open access regime is needed to make electricity rates competitive because companies compete by offering lower prices.
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By: ENJD
Source: Business World, Oct. 17, 2011
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