The Energy Regulatory Commission seeks to level the playing field by implementing a ‘more realistic timeline’ for generation companies (gencos) to comply with the public offering requirement.
The commission said industry players now have ‘a longer and more practical period’ to prepare and complete their public offering required under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira).
Under Section 43(t) of Epira, gencos need to publicly offer and sell not less than 15 percent of their common shares in the stock market.
ERC chief Francis Saturnino Juan Juan said that the five-year compliance period remained the same, but the ERC decided that firms would only start counting once they meet the basic requirements for listing.
‘Because right now, if we don’t do that – if we start counting the five years from the time the Certificate of Compliance (COC) is issued – the small generation companies would end up being discriminated against. Why? Because the large companies can easily comply with the requirement just by listing with the PSE,’ he told reporters in a media briefing on Monday.
Energy security in mind
This came as Juan earlier raised the plight of other gencos that do not have big operations or financial backing to list on the Philippine Stock Exchange or tap other modes of public offering.
He also reiterated that if the government kept the rules, the country may face power supply shortages, as only about 50 percent of the generation companies can comply with the public offering requirement.
Last year, renewed calls to amend the 24-year-old Epira emerged, with President Marcos himself and former Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla backing this move.
Epira was enacted in 2001, under the term of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. /dda