But it is unlikely that his proposals as presented would be an effective solution. Merchant power plants developed after electricity deregulation in the US, and they do have more positive attributes than negative ones. Competition helps pull down prices as well, which was the point Cusi focused on in discussing the idea. In fact, based on the history of merchant power in the US, it is probably inevitable that market trading would be short-lived, because of the financing risk for merchant plants. Cusi’s proposals are a good start toward developing a workable plan, but they are far from being ideal, and much more work is needed.

Source: Manila Times March 13, 2017 17:03 UTC