Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi asked President Rodrigo Duterte to temporarily appoint four members of the Energy Regulatory Commission in place of those whom the Ombudsman placed under one-year suspension.
“The secretary wrote a letter to the Office of the President to look into the possibility of appointing temporary commissioners and look into this also,” Energy Undersecretary Felix William Fuentebella said.
The Office of the Ombudsman ordered a one-year suspension on four commissioners of ERC, including Josefina Patricia Asirit, Alfredo Non, Geronimo Sta. Ana and Gloria Yap-Taruc in December for allegedly giving power retailer Manila Electric Co. an undue advantage when it exempted it from the competitive selection process for power supply agreements.
With the order, only ERC chairperson Agnes Devadanadera was left to man the five-man commission.
“We also have a pending request with the Office of the President to put ERC under the administrative only supervision of the Department of Energy to ensure that what we are doing are aligned,” Fuentebella said.
Fuentebella also allayed concerns of a power crisis amid the ongoing issue at the ERC.
“Secretary Cusi is ensuring that there will be no power interruption even if there will be delays in the release of decisions on the PSAs [power supply agreements],” he said. Alena Mae S. Flores
“Secretary Cusi as energy secretary assures everybody that we are doing everything that we can to assure that there will be no power interruption,” the official said.
Fuentebella said he was not informed who the possible replacements would be. “Secretary Cusi did not mention it to me…I presume it’s a general letter to address it immediately,” he said.
He said the department was looking at ways to ensure there would be adequate power supply even with the latest scenario at the commission. “There will be some delays but we want to assure whatever the secretary can do under his mandate so that there will be no power interruption,” Fuentebella said.
The department is also studying the legal implications of appointing the temporary commissioners.
“There is a principle in the law that there should be no vacuum. The president has residual powers,” Fuentebella said.
“The purpose why secretary Cusi is pushing it is to explore all possibilities,” he said.
Energy industry stakeholders pushed for an early resolution of the power vacuum at the ERC which could lead to a power shortage in the next five years.
“Taking into serious consideration the possible power outages and paralysis of the power industry due to the suspension of four commissioners of the ERC, consumer group Citizen Watch urges all parties, both government and private sectors alike, to do their part in ensuring that the power supply remains to be uninterrupted so as not to impede the progress of the entire economy,” Citizen Watch said.
The consumer group called for the speedy resolution of the issue. At the same time, CitizenWatch urged the industry players and stakeholders “not to take advantage of the situation and to closely monitor any artificial hike in electricity rates.”
“The stability of supply and price of power are of utmost importance, not only for the consumers but for the entire power industry,” Citizen Watch said.
Aboitiz Power Corp. president Antonio Moraza said the suspension could spell “disaster” for the energy industry while Semirara Mining and Power Corp. chairman Isidro Consunji said he was hoping the ERC could resume normal business soon.
“I hope the ERC starts running. So much has to be done. Otherwise another crisis in the next five years or so,” Consunji said.
The Philippine Independent Power Producers Association Inc., a group of power generators, also warned that a non-functioning ERC would be devastating to the power industry.
“PIPPA would like to stress that the energy industry needs a fully functional commission in order to effectively implement their mandate in accordance with Epira [Electric Power Industry Reform Act],” PIPPA said.
Epira mandated reforms in the power industry and ERC was tasked to regulate the sector.
“Without a working commission and putting a pause on the important work of the ERC, we will find ourselves without the needed approvals for PSAs, connection agreements, price determination regulation, compliance certificates and licenses,” PIPPA said.
PIPPA, an association of around 28 companies engaged in power generation, said these regulatory requirements were dependent on the ERC and could “negatively impact everyone from the generators, distribution utilities and ultimately to the consumers.”