Guidelines for an electricity spot market in Mindanao are now being drafted, with implementation targeted by June 2017, according to an official of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA).

Romeo M. Montenegro, deputy executive director of MinDA, which is a member of the Mindanao Power Monitoring Committee, said the rules for the Philippine’s Wholesale Electricity Spot Market could not be adopted as conditions in Mindanao are somewhat different from the rest of the country.

In the case of electricity cooperatives, for example, a number have already signed purchase supply contracts with energy providers that have yet to complete their facilities.

“Electric cooperatives in Mindanao seemed to be contracted on paper, but the supply is not readily available,” said Mr. Montenegro.

In Mindanao, 33 of the electricity distributors are cooperatives while only four are privately-owned utilities.

The Department of Energy and the National Electrification Administration also needs to look at how they can help cooperatives, particularly those in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, that are faced with financial constraints to give them an opportunity to participate in the power auction facility.

Mr. Montenegro said even with the availability of power supply in the spot market, fiscal problems would “limit their availability to contract power.”

Mr. Montenegro further explained that the volume of power that would be made available to the distribution utilities, including the cooperatives, will depend on their contracting portfolio.

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