| News and Events |
- PEMC initiates WESM Visayas Trial Operation Program
- PEMC enhances governance with updated roster of officers
- PEMC clarifies WESM impact on Meralco rates
- PEMC releases preliminary March market prices
- PEMC releases final January market prices
- PEMC supports Earth Hour 2010
- PEMC ready to run Electricity Reserve Market as soon as ERC gives go-ahead
- PEMC and NEA empower Electric Cooperatives
- PEMC holds WESM Participants’ Consultation Meeting on Independent Operational Audit
- DOE and PEMC finalize selection process for independent auditor
- 3rd WESM Annual Participants’ Meeting: Highlights in the last 12 Months of Operations
- PEM Board reconstituted to reflect equitable representation in preparation for IMO
- Former DOE Undersecretary Melinda L. Ocampo is new appointed PEMC Acting President
- Former DOE Undersecretary Melinda L. Ocampo is new appointed PEMC Acting President
- PEM Board approves Consumer Education Fund Availment Guidelines
| News Archives |
PEMC releases preliminary March market prices
After over a year of Effective Settlement Prices (ESP) ranging from Php1.25/kWh to P4.55/kWh, the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market’s (WESM) preliminary prices for the period covering 26 February to 25 March 2010 showed an ESP of Php12.96/kWh which was higher than the previous month’s Php11.29/kWh.
Based on WESM preliminary settlement data, about twenty-two percent (22%) of total market transactions for the March billing period were actual purchases from the market, while about seventy-eight percent (78%) were reported to have been sourced from bilateral power supply contracts, which were settled outside the WESM. “Bilateral power supply contract transactions are not affected by the prices at the WESM. For the March settlements, the prices in the WESM only affected about twenty-two percent (22%) of the total energy consumption for Luzon,” said Philippine Electricity Market Corporation (PEMC) Executive Vice President Mario R. Pangilinan.
Also occurring during the month are the scheduled outages of natural gas-fired plants such as the Ilijan, Sta. Rita and San Lorenzo power plants, as well as the low output from hydroelectric power plants brought about by the El Nino Phenomenon. “These factors have increased the contribution of coal as well as diesel and oil-based generators in the generation mix,” said Pangilinan. An unexpected increase in demand in the first quarter brought about by the relatively high temperature during the period was also observed.
The continued maintenance shutdown of natural gas-fired power plants is due to the scheduled maintenance of the Malampaya platform and pipelines. This decreased natural gas participation in the generation mix from 32.69% in February to 28.70% in March, thereby forcing natural gas-dependent Distribution Utilities (DUs) to find other sources of electricity for their customers. Low output from hydroelectric plants from 8.19% in February to 6.45% in March also contributed to shortage in supply, increasing the diesel/oil-based plant contribution to 9.30% from 8.27% in February as well as coal-fired plant usage from 42.71% to 46.90%.
Table 1
Comparison of Generation Mix
|
Month/Year
|
FUEL TYPE
|
|||||
|
Hydro
|
Geo
|
Coal
|
Nat Gas
|
D/O
|
Wind
|
|
|
Feb 2009
|
10.16%
|
10.24%
|
35.38%
|
42.23%
|
1.81%
|
0.17%
|
|
Mar 2009
|
7.77%
|
10.10%
|
32.95%
|
46.79%
|
2.31%
|
0.09%
|
|
Feb 2010
|
8.19%
|
8.04%
|
42.71%
|
32.69%
|
8.27%
|
0.10%
|
|
Mar 2010
|
6.45%
|
8.56%
|
46.90%
|
28.70%
|
9.30%
|
0.08%
|
Due to the volatility of spot prices, DUs are encouraged to establish mitigating measures such as having bilateral contracts to lessen the impact of volatile prices in the WESM to their consumers. This would be consistent with their obligations under Section 23 of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) which provides that: “A distribution utility shall have the obligation to supply electricity in the least cost manner to its captive market, subject to the collection of retail rate duly approved by the ERC.”
“WESM is a market that also acts as a clearing house providing settlement services for the trading of electricity. The market prices you see now only reflects the interaction of supply and demand,” said PEMC President Melinda L. Ocampo.