Consumers can expect improved reliability and security in the power supply following the launch of the Reserve Market, which is now in its pilot stage.

The Reserve Market uses an optimal and responsive mechanism for scheduling regulating, contingency, and dispatchable reserves.

Energy Regulatory Commission, or ERC, chairperson Monalisa Dimalanta said the launch of the Reserve Market will usher in "a growth that ensures reliability, embraces innovation, and promotes competition, all leading to transparency and reasonableness of our power rates."

Meanwhile, the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines, or IEMOP, said on Wednesday that industry stakeholders are now gearing up for the full commercial operations of the Reserve Market.

Separately, the Philippine Electricity Market Corp., or PEMC, clarified that the full commercial operations of the Reserve Market will commence once the Department of Energy, or DoE, confirmed that six requirements are followed.

Enhanced WESM

The criteria include approval of price determination methodology by the ERC for an enhanced WESM incorporating a reserve pricing mechanism; a successful completion of AS capability testing for all generating facilities, certifying them as providers; all systems and procedures including all interfaces necessary to implement the co-optimized energy and reserve market are in place; and establishment of measures including, but not limited to, reserve offer price cap and floor, and secondary price cap.

Criteria also include schedule, dispatch, bill, and settlement procedures relative to energy and reserves co-optimization are fully operational and incorporated in market rules and manuals; successful trial operations ensure the readiness of AS providers to participate in the co-optimized Energy and Reserve Market.

Once the Reserve Market is running at full commercial operations, the transactions within it will become financially binding for settlement through the market.

At this point, the system operator should be able to procure reserves from the spot market to meet the reserve requirements of the system.