ERC renews retail supplier license of GN Power

MANILA, Philippines – The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has renewed the retail electricity supplier (RES) license of GN Power Ltd. Co., a Netherlands-based power developer.

The ERC said GNPower has complied with the agency’s technical, managerial resource and financial requirements.

RES is an entity authorized to sell, broker, market or aggregate electricity to end-users. Its license has a life of three years.

An applicant needs to secure a license from the ERC prior to engaging in the supply of electricity to the contestable market. As differentiated from a captive market, a contestable market refers to end-users who have a choice of their supplier of electricity. Upon the initial implementation of open access and retail competition, all end-users with a monthly average peak demand of at least one megawatt (MW) from the preceding 12 months of consumption will be made as the contestable market.

On the other hand, the customers of a distribution utility, a monopoly or the sole provider of electricity in a geographical area defined in a franchise compose the captive market.  

GNPower was the first among the nine companies that applied for and were granted an RES license.  

The ERC issued the initial RES license to GNPower on July 12, 2006 which allowed it to start its marketing activities. GNPower is a limited partner of GNPower Mariveles Coal Plant Ltd. Co. (GMCP) which was also issued an RES license by the ERC on December 2007.  

GNPower said it will comply to the three credit standards requirement once commercial operations of its power plant commences in 2012 since it is at that time that the obligation to supply power becomes effective.  

As partners, all agreements executed by GNPower with potential contestable consumers are intended to be assigned to GMCP as the generating company. Thus, GNPower shall be GMCP’s marketing arm, but all future contracts shall be executed by GMCP.

Other RES licensees authorized by the ERC include Aboitiz Energy Solutions Inc., Trans-Asia Oil and Energy Development Corp., GNPower Mariveles Coal Plant Ltd. Co, First Gen. Energy Solutions Inc., Masinloc Power Partners Co. Ltd., Premier Energy Resources Corp., TeaM (Philippines) Energy Corp. and Cabanatuan Electric Corp. — Donnabelle L. Gatdula