The Philippine Independent Power Producers Association, Inc. (PIPPA) on Wednesday defended its petitions with the Energy Regulatory Commission on the secondary price cap and reliability standards.
“We are cognizant of the mandate of our government for more investments, and these petitions are for the consideration of the ERC which will in the long run produce reliable, stable and cost-efficient energy,” PIPPA said.
PIPPA is composed of the country’s large power generations with a combined capacity of around 13,000 megawatts as of 2020.
“PIPPA’s petition on both the secondary price cap and reliability standards are meant to address the need for the energy sector to adapt to the changing times,” the group said.
It said that through the PIPPA proposal pending with ERC, “we encourage all our stakeholders to understand the business of power generation and the requirements our generators face to maintain our plants to ensure reliable power.”
Consumer rights and energy advocacy group Power for People Coalition (P4P) last week expressed concern over PIPPA’s petitions.
P4P said PIPPA “in essence demand the removal of penalties their member companies may incur for power plant outages, and of price caps meant to cushion consumers from the burden of fluctuating power prices.”
PIPPA filed a petition with the ERC last year to relax the reliability benchmark rule, which sets a limit on allowable outages for power plants, ensuring that the available electricity to the public is sufficient to meet demand.
PIPPA also asked for an elimination of current price caps on spot markets, which serve to protect consumers from excessive cost of electricity during times of low power supply and high demand.
“Affordable and reliable electricity is a basic right of power consumers. PIPPA’s petitions scorn this by refusing accountability should they fail to provide service they owe, and by ensuring maximum profits at the expense of consumers. These petitions are irreconcilable to public interest, especially as the country enters the El Niño season and availability of power becomes all the more crucial,” the group said.
