ERC: 42 RES licenses issued in Q2

The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has granted licenses to more than three dozen retail electricity suppliers (RES) from April to June, showing that the retail power market gained traction during the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.

According to its “2nd Quarter 2020 Monitoring Report of the Retail Electricity Market,” the ERC issued 42 licenses and authorized 25 local suppliers. They now compete to supply electricity in the Competitive Retail Electricity Market (CREM).

The CREM is where qualified customers that consume 750 kilowatts and more can choose an RES or local RES — a competitive business segment of a distribution utility (DU) — as their supplier.

“The commission has been regularly monitoring the activities in the [CREM] to observe the behavior of stakeholders in this market, particularly in terms of pricing, switching patterns, and the capacity and energy of contestable customers,” ERC Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Agnes Devanadera said in a statement.

The total number of registered contestable customers issued with certificates of contestability reached 2,089. Of this, 1,460 have signed retail supply contracts, which means the customers have decided to source electricity from an RES, while 629 stayed with the regulated services of their respective DUs.

Of those that signed contracts, 1,120 are under the 1-megawatt-and-above category and 340 are under the 750-and-999-kilowatt category. Of those that remained with their DUs, 328 fall under the former category and 301, the latter.

In terms of market share, total customer demand during the period was at 4,977.31 MW. Of that figure, 81 percent were served by an RES and 19 percent were under DU-regulated service.

Of suppliers in the CREM, 55 percent of licensed RES are affiliates of generation companies (gencos), 20 percent operate a genco as another business segment, 17.50 percent have no affiliations in the industry and 7.50 percent are connected to DUs.

“Having more suppliers that are genco-affiliated gives confidence that electricity supply is ensured and that they have the capability to offer competitive or cheaper prices in the CREM,” the ERC said.

Source: TheManila Times