Energy dep’t approves formation of new WESM compliance committee

A NEW committee overseeing the electricity spot market will be formed soon to monitor its operations and adjudicate rules breaches, the Department of Energy (DoE) said.

The DoE effected the changes via amendments to the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) rules.

In a circular published in a newspaper over the weekend, the DoE approved a new provision that creates a compliance committee, to be supported by the existing Enforcement and Compliance Office.

The Philippine Electricity Market Corp., the governance arm of the WESM, will be appointing the committee members, who must not have ties to the power industry and are not in government.

The unit’s responsibilities include reviewing and monitoring the compliance of the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines, or the market operator, and the system operator in regard to their functions and obligations under the WESM rules and manuals.

The compliance committee will also preside over investigations into rules breaches after fact-finding by the Enforcement and Compliance Office, and will recommend sanctions.

It will also have the power to propose future amendments to the market’s rules and manuals.

Pending the formation of the committee, its responsibilities will be performed by the market surveillance committee.

The rule and manual changes in WESM are part of its transition to a new system that is targeted for launch in December. — Adam J. Ang