IEMOP shares the industry’s concern on recently recorded all-time high energy demand across all regions, exacerbated by the current heat wave. This present demand situation has put a strain on available generation capacities leading to the issuances of Yellow and Red Alerts by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP). Pursuant to its mandate to operate the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) in accordance with policy and regulatory issuances promulgated by the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), IEMOP, in coordination with the NGCP, will implement the recently issued ERC Order dated 30 April 2024 for ERC Case No.2024-017MC, entitled In the Matter of Declaration of Market Suspension During Red Alerts During Summer Months of 2024.
IEMOP remains hopeful that the supply levels will improve so the grid may continuously operate under normal conditions. Under the WESM Rules, the ERC may suspend normal operations of the WESM in cases of (a) natural calamities or (b) following the official declaration of a national or international security emergency by the President of the Republic. During the market suspension, the administered pricing based on the ERC approved Price Determination Methodology (PDM) shall be imposed. In this pricing mechanism, the weighted average of the last four (4) similar trading days and dispatch intervals prices shall be considered.