Philippines: DOE holds PEMC audit

Philippines: DOE holds PEMC audit

The Department of Energy (DOE) is conducting an overall independent audit on
the Philippine Electricity Market Corp. (PEMC), operator of the electricity
spot market, to ensure competitive power prices and safeguard consumers.

The DOE has issued an order to create an independent committee to review and
audit the financial, operational and systems records of PEMC.

This follows the thrust of President Duterte to ensure the protection of the
public from surging power prices.

PEMC operates the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), which was
created under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) of 2001.

Under the DOE order, the independent committee is expected to complete the
full review and audit on Feb. 28, 2017. However, the committee can request
an extension if the DOE secretary allows.

The independent committee will be chaired by DOE Undersecretary Jesus

Cristino Posadas while Undersecretary Felix William Fuentebella will sit as
vice chairman.

Funding for the audit will be sourced from the DOE's available funds.

Earlier this year, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) launched a
separate review on PEMC, tapping Reyes Tacandong & Co. to conduct the audit
and check whether the fees imposed by the market operator have been
reasonable.

The audit is intended to address concerns of certain sectors, and will
impact PEMC's budget proposal. Results will also determine whether PEMC
should transition to an independent market operator.

PEMC, which has been operating the market since 2006, is a 15-man body led
by the Energy Secretary and composed of representatives from each sector of
the electric power industry as well as independent members.

But under EPIRA, the WESM must be transferred to an independent entity or
IMO one year after its establishment.

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Link to Original Article:
http://www.philstar.com/business/2016/12/11/1652193/doe-holds-pemc-audit

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John Diecker
APT Consulting Group Co., Ltd.

www.aptthailand.com