San Miguel Global Power (SMGP) emphasized the regulatory primacy of the Philippine Electricity Market Corp. (PEMC) after its market surveillance committee (MSC) and board cleared the Ilijan Gas Power Plant of any violation over its June 2022 outage — directly challenging a recent show cause order issued by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).
In March and May 2025, PEMC’s MSC and board respectively concluded that Ilijan’s operator, South Premiere Power Corp. (SPPC), did not violate the Must Offer Rule of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), citing unavoidable fuel supply constraints as the cause of the plant’s 20-day shutdown. The decision effectively nullifies the basis of the ERC’s 24 July 2025 order, which relies on a prior, outdated 2022 MSC resolution endorsed under then-chairman Monalisa Dimalanta.
SMGP asserts that the PEMC’s finding — as the designated market governance body — holds regulatory primacy and renders the ERC’s claim of anti-competitive behavior moot. The firm also underscored that SPPC’s shutdown coincided with an unexpected cessation of pipeline gas supply, its main fuel source for two decades, and occurred despite active coordination with upstream suppliers and authorities.
While SMGP has since reduced its stake in SPPC to 33 percent following the entry of Meralco PowerGen and Aboitiz Power, it noted that SPPC has taken long-term corrective steps by commissioning a new LNG terminal with a 2,500 MW capacity — addressing energy security and stability concerns for 15 percent of Luzon’s power needs.
