David A. Tauli
The Association of Mindanao Rural Electric Cooperatives, Inc. (AMRECO) and the AMRECO Power Supply Aggregation Group Corporation (AMRECO PSAGCORP) will be holding a workshop on February 17, 2017 in Cagayan de Oro City on the “Drafting of Rules for WESM in Mindanao”.
The invitation sent by AMRECO President Sergio Dagooc and AMRECO PSAGCORP President Adelmo Laput states: “The workshop will serve as the Mindanao Electric Cooperatives’ key initiative in support to the present Administration’s quest in establishing affordable and sustainable electric services in Mindanao. The AMRECO is consistent in strongly reiterating its proposal for the establishment of an independent market in Mindanao that should be separate from the WESM administered by PEMC and should only be managed by the stakeholders and market participants in Mindanao.”
The workshop is somewhat misnamed in its reference to a WESM in Mindanao, and should be more accurately named as “Drafting of Rules for the Economic Dispatch of Electric Power Plants in Mindanao”.
But President Dagooc and President Laput make it clear in their invitation that the long-term objective for electric cooperatives is the establishment of a WESM in Mindanao that is not administered by the Philippine Electricity Market Corporation, but by an organization that would be accountable to the electric power industry players in Mindanao.
There is no need to formally change the title of the workshop as long as it is understood that the reference is to the establishment of a WESM that benefits the people of Mindanao. There is no intention to establish in Mindanao a WESM that is administered by the PEMC, which is now doing very badly in its administration of the Philippine WESM in the Luzon-Visayas grid.
In holding the workshop, the officers of electric cooperatives in Mindanao are taking the initiative to address the problems in the electric power industry that result from: (a) construction of coal power plants with total capacities in excess of the baseload requirements of consumers in Mindanao over the next several years; and (b) overcontracting of baseload power supplies on the part of many of the electric cooperatives.
These problems could be addressed by ensuring that the dispatching of power plants connected to the Mindanao Grid (now being done by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines as System Operator) will be carried out in such a manner as to result in the least cost of power supply for consumers.
The AMRECO workshop is for the purpose of developing the rules that would govern system operations of the Mindanao grid and also govern the behavior of distribution utility companies and large power consumers that are connected directly to the grid. In effect, the electric cooperatives hope to develop rules that would govern all stakeholders in the electric power industry in Mindanao.
The proposals that would be formulated in the AMRECO workshop will have to be taken up and agreed upon in another conference to be attended by all stakeholders in the Mindanao EPI – the electric cooperatives, the investor-owned distribution utilities, consumers directly connected to the Mindanao grid, power consumer groups, the NGCP, and representative from the DOE, NEA, ERC, Mindanao Development Authority, and other government agencies dealing with the Mindanao electric power industry.
Following are some proposals and issues that can be taken up during the AMRECO workshop and considered by other stakeholders preparatory to the holding of a conference for all stakeholders to agree on the rules governing system operations of the Mindanao grid.
1. Dispatching of power plants by NGCP should be done with the primary objective of least-cost power supply (based on duly-approved rates for existing power supply agreements) while ensuring the integrity and security of the Mindanao grid.
2. Appropriate penalties should be imposed on distribution utilities and directly-connected consumers who draw power supply from the grid in excess of their contracted power supplies.
3. The NGCP should develop a plan and implement measures that would eliminate possible congestion in the grid where it is economically feasible to do so by uprating of power lines and equipment on the grid.
4. The hydroelectric power plants on the Agus River should be operated in accordance with the Rule Curve for Lake Lanao to ensure that the minimum level of Lake Lanao (699.15 Meters above Sea Level) will not be breached at the projected peak monthly load in the period from April to June of every year.
5. Distribution utility companies should submit petitions to the ERC to pass on to their consumers any of the costs that would result from the implementation of the rules or measures that are agreed upon by the stakeholders.