Lawyer Monalisa Dimalanta, who has been leading the Philippine power industry’s regulatory body for the past two years, has been handed down a six-month preventive suspension from her post over an issue raised by a consumer group.
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The Office of the Ombudsman gave the suspension over a case filed by the National Association of Electricity Consumers for Reforms Inc (Nasecor) against the Energy Regulatory Commission’s (ERC) alleged failure to recalculate the electricity rate of Meralco, the country’s biggest power distribution utility.
This has allowed Meralco’s regular purchase of electricity from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) and subsequently bill consumers without obtaining the necessary regulatory approval.
“The evidence on record shows that the guilt of respondent Dimalanta is strong and the charges against her involve grave misconduct, grave abuse of authority, gross neglect of duty and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service,” read a copy of the decision dated 29 August, but only issued to media on Thursday.
The suspension could warrant her removal from service, which Dimalanta said could delay the department of energy’s (DOE) upcoming renewable energy projects like the green energy auction programme (GEAP) set for October.
“I anticipate [the suspension] will have an impact on several programmes, including the pricing for the third and fourth round of auctions, among others,” Dimalanta told Eco-Business.
The GEAP was kickstarted in 2022 to make the procurement of renewable energy supply in the Philippines a competitive process. It is one of the policies put in place to help the country achieve the goals set under the Renewable Energy Act of 2008, which aims to reach a 35 per cent renewable energy target by 2030.
ERC is in charge of setting the price for the renewable energy capacities for bidding.
Although the agency is composed of four other commissioners, Dimalanta said she is the only one coordinating with the DOE for the programme.
Nasecor said Dimalanta’s ctions contradict the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA), which mandates the ERC to promote competition and penalise the abuse of market power in the restructured electricity industry.
The veteran energy lawyer has been seeking amendments to the EPIRA in congress, in order to address the country’s soaring electricity costs. Electricity prices in the Philippines are among the highest in Southeast Asia, due to a heavy reliance on imported fossil fuels and uncompetitive market structures.
In 2022, the DOE declared a successful first round of the programme after awarding around 2,000 megawatts (MW) in renewable energy capacities to 19 winning bidders. It was able to generate about 1,960 MW to be delivered from 2023 to 2025.
Last year, the energy department auctioned off 11,600 MW of green energy capacities that must be available in the next three years, but the private sector only committed to providing 3,440.76 MW of new energy to be installed over three years until 2025.
The DOE is supposed to conduct three more rounds of the GEAP, including two in October and another one to be conducted by mid-2025.
However, Ranulfo Ocampo, president of trade association Private Electric Power Operators Association believes the suspension of Dimalanta should not affect the operations of the commission.
“There are still four other commissioners that can constitute a quorum. Besides, DOE is the lead agency tasked to conduct the GEAP,” he said.
