THE DEPARTMENT of Energy (DoE) said it plans to issue the rules governing demand-side bidding on the power spot market by next year.
“The rules on demand-side bidding for the wholesale electricity spot market (WESM) (are) undergoing development. Target issuance is by next year,” Director of the Energy Utilization Management Bureau Patrick T. Aquino said at a webinar hosted by the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines Wednesday.
“A concept note has been floated as early as March this year. It is undergoing review by the technical committees of the WESM (wholesale electricity spot market). It is also within the purview of what the electric power industry management bureau is also reviewing,” he added.
Demand-side bidding, according to the Philippine Electricity Market Corp. (PEMC), allows consumers to actively participate in electricity trading by bidding or pricing their energy demand block to match the offers of generators.
“The integration of customer’s bid price to the market optimization model will promote higher levels of competition and provide more accurate price signals. Currently, the WESM rules allow customers with dispatchable loads to submit a standing demand bid on a voluntary basis,” PEMC said in a technical report in June.
The Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP) has said that no customer has submitted any demand bid on the WESM as of June, according to the PEMC.
“Non-participation in demand-side bidding may be attributed to the participants’ lack of knowledge on this market feature. Also, there are no policies and procedures in place at the moment which provide further details to promote participation in demand-side bidding,” the PEMC said, citing results from a consultation it conducted among WESM members in March.
IEMOP has said that demand-side bidding is a planned enhancement due for incorporation in the WESM in 2024. — Angelica Y. Yang
