Spot market fines First Gen subsidiary

MANILA, Philippines — The board of  Philippine Electricity Market Corp. slapped a penalty on First Gas Power Corp. on Wednesday surrounding dispatch schedules.

In a disclosure sent to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Thursday, First Gen Corp. indicated its subsidiary, which owns the 1,000 megawatts Santa Rita combined cycle power plant, was fined P400,000 for the “breach of WESM rules relating to real-time dispatch schedules and/or system operator instructions.” The company did not elaborate.

The Lopez Group owns the power firm, which includes other subsidiaries such as First Gen Hydro Power Corp., First Gen Energy Solutions, Inc., First NatGas Power Corp., Prime Meridian Powergen Corp., and FG Bukidnon Power Corp.

That said, the PEM board governs the wholesale electricity spot market, where electricity could be traded as a commodity. As it is, the board is populated by senior officials working for the country’s private sector power firms. 

The First Gen subsidiary said that they were still reviewing their options in light of the penalty. 

Shares in First Gen currently trade 1.11% down at P19.58 apiece as of 10:19 Thursday morning.