MANILA: President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said Wednesday the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) would temporarily suspend the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) operation during a red alert notice in the country’s power grids to tame the rising prices of electricity.
In a speech in Malacañang, Marcos assured that the government is taking the necessary steps to ease the burden of consumers after the series of yellow and red alert notices in the Luzon and Visayas grids in the past weeks due to the significant increase in demand owing to the extreme heat that the country experiences brought by the El Niño phenomenon.
‘Dahil sa matinding init, tumataas ang konsumo ng kuryente na nakakadagdag sa pag-akyat ng presyo. Kahapon lamang ay kumilos na ang Energy Regulatory Commission o ERC upang pansamantalang isuspende ang operasyon ng tinatawag na Wholesale Electricity Spot Market o WESM kapag may idineklarang Red Alert ang System Operator o NGCP (Due to the extreme heat, electricity consumption is on the rise,
adding to the price hike. So, yesterday, the Energy Regulatory Commission or ERC acted to temporarily suspend the operation of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market or WESM when the System Operator or NGCP [National Grid Corp. of the Philippines] declares a Red Alert),’ he said.
‘Ito ay naglalayon na pigilan ang pagtaas ng presyo ng kuryente sa gitna ng kalamidad na dulot ng El Niño (This move aims to prevent an increase in electricity prices amid the disaster caused by El Niño).’
The WESM is the centralized venue for buyers and sellers to trade electricity as a commodity where prices are determined based on demand and supply.
Under Republic Act 9136 or the ‘Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001’ (EPIRA), the ERC may suspend the operation of the WESM or declare a temporary WESM failure in cases of national and international security emergencies or natural calamities.
The ERC said in a news release Tuesday that during the WESM suspension, the ‘administered price shall apply.’
Administered price is th
e price imposed by the market operator to trading participants.
Source: Philippines News Agency