The Energy Regulatory Commission said Friday the suspension of the spot market during red alerts reduced prices by up to 66 percent from what they would have been without the suspension.
The ERC, pursuant to its order dated April 30, 2024, directed the suspension of trading in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market in Luzon and the Visayas in three occasions. This froze WESM pricing for a total of 1,997 intervals in Luzon and 402 in the Visayas from May 23 to May 31, 2024. It said that without the suspension on May 23 at 1:05 p.m. to May 25 at 12:50 a.m. in Luzon, real time prices at the WESM reached a high of P27.637 per kWh.
The ERC said this translated into a 66-percent decrease in the average indicative prices in the Luzon grid. WESM prices were at P5.657 per kWh before the red alert on May 23.