THE Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) plans to allow all electricity consumers to choose their power supplier by 2031 under a proposed expansion of the Retail Competition and Open Access (RCOA) program.
In a draft resolution released Sunday, the ERC outlined a five-year roadmap to gradually lower the minimum electricity demand required to join the program, bringing it to zero by 2031.
RCOA allows eligible consumers to buy electricity from a licensed retail supplier of their choice.
More than 2,300 customers had joined the program before the eligibility threshold was lowered to 100 kilowatts (kW), the ERC said.
The lower threshold made about 12,000 additional customers eligible, including mid-sized manufacturers, schools, malls, cold storage facilities, business process outsourcing offices, hotels, and hospitals.
Under the proposed roadmap, the ERC will lower the threshold from 100 kW to 50 kW in 2027, and strengthen policies and safeguards for smaller consumers eligible to choose their supplier.
It also plans to adopt a nationwide rollout plan for smart meters, which digitally record electricity use, and require the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP) to establish a centralized system for managing metering data.
The system will be modeled on Australia’s Market Settlement and Transfer Solutions, which supports electricity market transactions and supplier switching.
The ERC will also require distribution utilities with substantial power supply contract commitments to submit statements detailing these obligations and plans for the transition to wider retail competition.
It will adopt rules allowing independent companies to provide electricity metering services.
In 2028, the ERC plans to accredit these metering providers, open metering services to competition, fully implement the centralized data system, and deploy the first batch of smart meters.
The following year, it aims to accelerate smart meter installations, test arrangements allowing households to pool their electricity demand to buy power collectively, and assess readiness for a further reduction in the eligibility threshold.
Subject to that review, the ERC plans to lower the threshold from 50 kW to 30 kW in 2030. It will also develop a regulated default electricity offer to protect households and expand backup supply arrangements.
These arrangements, known as the Supplier of Last Resort service, ensure that consumers continue receiving electricity if their chosen supplier closes, loses its license, or stops operating.
By 2031, all consumers will be eligible to choose their electricity supplier once their smart meters are installed and registered in the centralized system.
Consumers who do not or cannot choose a supplier will retain access to electricity under government-approved rates and rules.
