DOE pushes info drive for WESM Mindanao

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Energy (DOE) is strengthening its information campaign in pushing for the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) in Mindanao.

The DOE has been conducting preparatory activities for the launch of WESM Mindanao, in coordination with the Philippine Electricity Market Corp. (PEMC) and the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP).

The agency has already completed two public consultations this month in Cagayan de Oro and in Zamboanga City. The DOE is set to conduct three more public consultations in Davao City on Feb. 21, Butuan City on the 28th, and Gen. Santos City on March 7.

The public consultations are focused on a draft circular that will govern the operation of WESM Mindanao in fulfilment of the DOE’s mandate to ensure the security, reliability and availability of transparent and reasonably-priced electricity in the country.

The consultation participants were united in expressing confidence with a stable and competitively-priced energy source, Mindanao can experience and sustain an economic boom under the Duterte administration’s 10-point socio-economic program.

From the two consultations, the DOE also recognized most of the concerns were operational in nature.

To be able to reach more participants, the DOE forged a partnership with the Mindanao Development Authority which, together with the PEMC and NGCP, will undertake an intensive and massive information, education and communication (IEC) drive.

The information drive will help more Mindanaoans better understand WESM and to appreciate the benefits it will bring about in sustaining investments in Mindanao, which needs a robust power sector to support a booming economy.

Through the IEC, the DOE hopes to address also occasional opposing views which can be attributed to the lack of deeper understanding of the WESM.

The establishment of WESM in Mindanao is a high priority agenda of Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi, targeting its commercial operation by June 26, 2017. It is also underlined in Republic Act 9136 or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001.

For decades, Mindanao has lagged behind Luzon and the Visayas in economic development under the past administrations with their Manila centrist policies which the Duterte Administration has seen as one of the root causes of poverty and strife in Mindanao.

In 2016, Mindanao had an additional generating capacity of 782 megawatts (MW) and is expecting the commercial operations of additional 1,208 MW this year.

Despite the additional supply, there remains power interruptions in Mindanao especially in the franchise areas of distribution utilities which do not have sufficient power supply agreements to cover their increasing demand for electricity.

In the absence of such contracts, power generation companies are hesitant to operate their plants without an approved supply contract or any compensation mechanism duly approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission.