The Philippine Electricity Market Corp (PEMC) is seeking regulatory clearance to jack up its market fees to raise additional funds to cover its operations.
PEMC filed an application with the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to approve its P882.21 million funding requirements that will cover its expenditure program.
Initial figures peg the market fee rate of 1.04 centavos per kilowatt-hour (kwh)
The proposed amount will cover personal services – which cover salaries and benefits of 160 employees in Luzon and Visayas.
It also considers PEMC’s cost of the preparations and initial operations of the WESM in Mindanao.
Apart from those, the fund will also cover the maintenance and other operating expenses, including expenditures which consist of enhancements and upgrades to the Market Management System (MMS) and corporate infrastructure, and cost of lease improvements.
The fees will be collected from WESM participants in Luzon and Visayas only, as commercial operations for WESM in Mindanao is set to begin next year.