The independent market operator (IMO) will finally begin operating the wholesale electricity spot market (WESM) by mid-2018, Energy secretary Alfonso Cusi said.

“By June 2018, the IMO is in place,”The Department of Energy (DOE) secretary said.

The energy official met with the Philippine Electricity Market Corp. (PEMC) transition team and have set a timeline for the implementation of the IMO.

“We have already finished that…By February, there will already be an appointment of the president of PEMC,” he said.

The IMO is an independent entity from electric power industry participants and from the government that will operate the WESM.

Cusi said that they are still looking for people who will become incorporators of the IMO.

“I’m just being very careful on the choice of people, I want to make sure that they don’t have any…any connection, conflict of interests,” the official said.

Once set, the IMO will begin operations, transfer of assets, and of people.

Meanwhile, Cusi, who sits as the chairman of the PEM Board, will exit to make the market operator truly independent.

“You will see an independent market operator, and an independent PEMC without DOE,” Cusi said.

Under the EPIRA law, WESM must be transferred to an independent market operator a year after it was established.