A STUDY showed that a few large conglomerates dominate the retail electricity market through their control of power generation and distribution, the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) said.
The findings were presented at a recent strategic policy dialogue with the Philippine Electricity Market Corp. (PEMC), as part of the PCC’s market study on competition and switching barriers in the retail electricity sector.
According to the study, the Electric Power Industry Reform Act allows firms to participate in power generation and electricity distribution, but retail electricity suppliers (RES) affiliated with major power generators enjoy structural advantages over smaller and independent competitors.
Many contestable customers have yet to switch suppliers because of limited awareness of customer choice programs and insufficient knowledge of the switching process, the study said.
In addition, the PCC observed a trend of “affiliate switching,” in which customers transfer to another retail electricity supplier within the same corporate group. While such concentration may limit market diversification, PEMC said its monitoring data showed that these movements are often driven by commercial considerations, including pricing, contract flexibility and service quality.
The study’s findings were consistent with trends identified by the PEMC’s Market Surveillance Committee, and that delays in switching suppliers are frequently linked to infrastructure constraints, particularly the procurement and installation of retail metering systems, as well as difficulties faced by customers in evaluating complex contract terms.
Data from PEMC’s 2025 annual report showed an increase in electricity consumption within the competitive retail electricity market, which the agency attributed to government-led customer choice programs.
Starting this month, the Energy Regulatory Commission lowered the contestability threshold to 100 kilowatts from 500 kilowatts, a move expected to expand participation among smaller commercial and industrial consumers.
Contestability threshold is the minimum electricity consumption level consumers must reach to choose their own power supplier instead of relying on a default utility provider.
The PCC and PEMC are also negotiating a cooperation agreement that would establish data-sharing mechanisms covering market settlement processes and pricing behavior, while enabling PEMC to flag market patterns that may warrant competition review.
