Adopted: 02 December 2014
Date Filed: 05 January 2015
WHEREAS, Section 37 of Republic Act No. 9136, otherwise known as the "Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001" (EPIRA), mandates the Department of Energy (DOE) to among others:

(a)	ensure the reliability, quality, and security of supply of electric power;
(b)	encourage power sector investments in the electricity sector and promote development of indigenous and renewable energy sources and develop policies and procedures, and;
(c)	as appropriate, promote a system of energy development incentives to enable and encourage electric power industry participants to provide adequate capacity to meet demand including, among others, reserve requirements;

WHEREAS, Section 30 of the EPIRA mandates the DOE to establish the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), and upon endorsement of electric power industry participants, promulgate the WESM Rules;

WHEREAS, on 28 June 2002, the DOE, upon the joint endorsement of the electric power industry participants, promulgated the WESM Rules through Department Circular No. DC2002-06-003;

WHEREAS, Section 10.3.2.3 of the WESM Rules authorized the DOE to declare the commencement of the spot market for ancillary services, when applicable and reasonably feasible;

WHEREAS, on 02 December 2013, the DOE declared the Commercial Launch Date of WESM Reserve Market on 26 March 2014 through Department Circular No. DC2013-12-0027, subject to fulfillment of certain conditions such as Philippine Electricity Market Corporation ™s (PEMC) certification attesting that all systems and procedures are in place for the operation of the Reserve Market;

WHEREAS, on 14 March 2014, PEMC submitted its report to the DOE stating that the WESM Reserve Market may not commercially operate on 26 March 2014 pending the regulatory approval of the Pricing and Cost Recovery Mechanism (PCRM) of the WESM Reserve Market and the completion of the registration of ancillary service providers;

WHEREAS, on 26 March 2014, the DOE declared the new Commercial Launch Date of WESM Reserve Market on 26 May 2014, subject to the approval by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) of the PCRM for the WESM Reserve Market, and directed the implementation of the Central Scheduling and Dispatch of Energy and Contracted Reserves through Department Circular No. DC2014-03-0009;

WHEREAS, the Central Scheduling and Dispatch of Energy and Contracted Reserves would provide the DOE better monitoring of all available generation capacity in both energy and reserve, and provide more preparations to the participants for the eventual commercial operation of the WESM Reserve Market;

WHEREAS, pursuant to the said Circular, PEMC and National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) jointly formulated the Protocol for the Central Scheduling and Dispatch of Energy and Contracted Reserves in consultation with the Ancillary Service Providers under Ancillary Services Procurement Agreement (ASPA) contracts of NGCP;

WHEREAS, on 22 April 2014, the said Protocol was submitted by PEMC to the DOE for consideration and final approval pursuant to Department Circular No. DC2014-03-0009;

NOW THEREFORE, pursuant to its mandate under the EPIRA and the WESM Rules, the DOE hereby issues, adopts and promulgates the following:

Section 1. Approval and Adoption of the Protocol for the Central Scheduling and Dispatch of Energy and Contracted Reserves. In consideration of the foregoing, the WESM Market Manual on the Protocol for the Central Scheduling and Dispatch of Energy and Contracted Reserves (The Protocol) presented as Annex "A"^[*] to this Circular is hereby approved and adopted.

The implementation of this Protocol shall immediately cease upon the Commercial Operation of the WESM Reserve Market or upon declaration of its cessation by the DOE.

Section 2. Responsibilities of PEMC, NGCP and Trading Participants. PEMC as the Market Operator, NGCP as the System Operator and all affected Trading Participants shall ensure compliance with this Circular and the said Protocol for the better achievement of this policy. PEMC shall continuously submit an assessment report to the DOE on its implementation of this Protocol and the development of the WESM Reserve Market.

Section 3. Separability Clause. If for any reason, any section or provision of this Circular including the attached Annex is declared unconstitutional or invalid, such parts that are not affected shall remain in full force and effect.

Section 4. Effectivity. This Circular shall take effect fifteen (15) days after publication in two (2) newspapers of general circulation. PEMC is directed to publish this Circular in the market information website.

Issued this __ November 2014 at the DOE, Energy Center, Rizal Drive, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City, Metro Manila.


(SGD) CARLOS JERICHO L. PETILLA
Secretary

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^[*] Text Available at the Office of the National Administrative Register, U.P. Law Complex, Diliman, Quezon City.