ERC going paperless

MANILA, Philippines – The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) plans to implement paperless transaction to speed up the process and improve operational efficiency.

“We intend to put in place a system so all submissions will be done electronically,” ERC chairman Jose Vicente Salazar said.

He noted work on upgrading the system is already in progress. 

“This is transparency. Our intention is to have a new image of the ERC and that we should be able to do something about access,” Salazar said.

He said the ERC is working with the World Bank, which will provide technical assistance to upgrade the system.

The ERC asked the World Bank to send their people, composed of an IT expert, procurement expert, regulatory expert to form a technical working group together with their internal personnel.

“If that will happen in January, hopefully we will be able to finish this in three to four months. This team will come up with a study for this,” he said.

Putting in place an electronic system will complement the increase in manpower of the power regulator.

Salazar said the ERC hopes to double its manpower to 508 from the current 220.

A study on this was approved by the power regulator, which will be submitted to the Office of the President (OP) for clearance.

The ERC is currently undergoing a validation process for over 2,700 unresolved cases as part of efforts to reduce the huge backlog.

Salazar said the agency is doing a physical inventory of the cases to determine which ones should be heard immediately.

“It is almost done but validation process cannot be completed until we can unload temporarily the hearings currently being undertaken. We are targeting February for the start of the validation process,” he said.