The Philippine Electricity Market Corporation (PEMC) headed by Lasse A. Holopainen, president, has lodged a motion for reconsideration on its proposed P624.411 million budget for this year to be raised through market fees collected from participants in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market or WESM.
The firm cited various justifications why its proposed budget should not be slashed as had been the appreciation of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) in a ruling rendered on January 30 this year.
In the same pleading, PEMC also sought the ERC’s approval for the consolidation of its market fees for the Luzon-WESM and the Visayas spot market which is due for commercial kick-off this year.
Based on calculations, the market fee rate for Luzon WESM if separated will be at P0.010897 per kilowatt hour (kWh); whereas if integrated with the Visayas WESM, the resulting market fee rate would be at P0.009867 per kWh.
"Clearly, as this illustration demonstrates, it would be more cost-efficient for both markets to actually consolidate their operations into one," PEMC has noted.
PEMC argued that the determination of its budget shall be left to the discretion of the officers and directors of the corporation, as such falls on questions of policy management as provided for under the Corporation Code. (MMV)
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