On April 20, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), and the Department of Energy (DOE) launched a web-based Competitive Retail Electricity Market (CREM) Monitoring and Reporting System along with the Retail Electricity Supplier (RES) Scorecard Survey to improve competition in the energy market. The CREM system consolidates various processes and enables customers to track and compare RES, switch suppliers, and better identify what options are most suitable to their energy needs. The CREM platform is part of a larger five-year US$34 million (P1.6 billion) Energy Secure Philippines project that began in 2020.
Opportunity to reduce energy costs
The CREM monitoring system functions as a digital electricity marketplace for contestable customers who have a minimum monthly consumption of 500 kilowatts (kW). Contestable customers may select their preferred RES rather than be solely reliant on energy supplied by their distribution utilities. Currently, the ERC has registered 47 RES licenses. By promoting greater competition and providing customers with greater information, the system has the potential to enable qualifying customers to decrease their electricity costs. The CREM system is expected to become publicly available on the ERC website by Q3 2023.
