The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) plans to lower the threshold of the retail competition and open access (RCOA) program to as low as 100 kilowatt hours (kWh) instead of 500 kWh as implemented at present.
The plan is to adopt the new threshold in three or four years when consumers have the option to choose their own energy supplier rather than accept whoever is presented by distribution companies.
This free determination is guaranteed under the Competitive Retail Electricity Market (CREM) for businesses consuming at least 500 kWh a month.
The Green Energy Option Program (GEOP) also allows customers to opt for electricity only from renewable energy providers.
“That is our goal. We announce it ahead of time so that distribution utilities can also prepare because the biggest impact is on them because their captive customer base will shift to the contestable. They need to prepare accordingly,” Monalisa Dimalanta, ERC chair, told reporters in a forum in Taguig City.
In June, the ERC reported the price of retail electricity in the first quarter this year averaging lower than in 2023.
The ERC said retail electricity averaged P5.49 per kWh during the quarter when this ranged from P3.57 per kWh to as high as P7.67 per kWh.
The regulator said this was significantly lower than the average generation charge in Luzon averaging P7.0665 per kWh and P7.7093 per kWh in the Visayas. Nationally, this averaged P6.7460 per kWh.
A report published by the Philippine Electricity Market Corp. also found that in 2023 CREM customers saved P46 billion because CREM rates were 23 percent lower than that charged by DUs.
The regulator said the number of registered CREM customers increased from 1,918 in 2022 to 1,999 as of March 2024. There are now 330 GEOP customers.
The ERC also said 60 percent of 3,329 customers are served by the CREM while the remaining 40 percent of those eligible have yet to choose their own suppliers and remain under their respective DUs.
