Reconsider halt order on TMO’s P235-M penalty, PEMC asks CA

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Electricity Market Corp. (PEMC), the operator of the country’s electricity spot market, has asked the Court of Appeals to reconsider its order to stop collecting penalties from Aboitiz unit Thermal Mobile Inc. (TMO).

PEMC said in a statement yesterday it filed a motion for reconsideration following the appellate court’s decision denying the market operator’s petition to collect a P234.9-million fine from TMO.

PEMC is the operator of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM).

“PEMC is always open to discuss any issue with the participants as long as it is consistent with its mandate under the WESM rules. We are committed in upholding the integrity of the WESM investigation process and we will remain true to our objective of creating a level-playing field among the WESM players,” PEMC president Melinda Ocampo said.

The CA decision is an affirmation of an earlier decision made by the Pasig Regional Trial Court on April 1, 2015.

The RTC prevented PEMC to collect the financial penalties and charge interest on the financial penalties and to transmit PEMC-ECO’s investigation report to the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) until the dispute is finally resolved.

The appellate court also directed parties to comply with the dispute resolution process under the WESM rules and Dispute Resolution Market Manual (DRMM) which has already been started.