President Rodrigo Duterte was called to resolve the now frozen Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) following the suspension of its four commissioners.
The Philippine Independent Power Producers Association Inc. (PIPPA) sent a letter to the president, raising its concern over the leadership vacuum in the ERC.
The group asked the president to resolve the ERC issue “quickly and fairly, and so that the entire industry can move forward and work to achieve energy security, reliability, accessibility, and affordability for all consumers.”
PIPPA said that apart from the industry being forced into a gridlock because of the suspension, consumers will also be affected by the commission-less power regulator.
“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 (power supply agreements), connection agreements, price determination regulation, compliance certificates and licenses,” the group said
It added that approvals and licenses are dependent on the ERC and will have a negative impact everyone; from the generators, distribution utilities, and to the consumers as well.
In December 2017, the office of the Ombudsman ordered the suspension of ERC commissioners Geronimo Sta. Ana, Josefina Patricia Magpale-Asisrit, Gloria Yap-Taruc, and Alfredo Non for a year for delaying the conduct of the competitive bidding in power supply agreements.
