Republic Act No. 9136 (Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001)
Also known as: EPIRA · Electric Power Industry Reform Act · RA 9136
Definition
Republic Act No. 9136, the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 (EPIRA), is the law that restructured the Philippine electric power industry by breaking up the National Power Corporation’s monopoly. Signed on 8 June 2001, it separated generation, transmission, distribution, and supply into distinct segments, created the National Transmission Corporation (TRANSCO) and the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM), mandated the sale of state generation assets, and established the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) together with retail competition and open access.
Identities
| Database | Identifier |
|---|---|
| Wikipedia | Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 |
| Wikidata | Q141304142 |
| DBpedia | N/A |
Also Known As
- EPIRA
- Electric Power Industry Reform Act
- RA 9136
Examples and Analogies
EPIRA is the Philippines’ version of the worldwide wave of power-sector unbundling in the 1990s and 2000s, comparable to reforms in the United Kingdom and Australia that split monopolies into competing generators and regulated wires businesses. Its everyday footprint is the retail competition scheme where large customers contract directly with licensed retail electricity suppliers instead of only their local utility.
Usage Scenarios
The Act frames the operations of the WESM trading floor, PSALM’s privatization of power plants and management of stranded debts, the Energy Regulatory Commission’s approval of tariffs, the franchise regime of distribution utilities such as electric cooperatives, and the Retail Competition and Open Access program for contestable customers.
Strategies
Policy under EPIRA has pursued asset privatization to retire National Power Corporation obligations, universal electrification through missionary electrification funds, market competition to discipline prices, and cross-ownership limits preventing generation and distribution dominance by the same group, with implementation led by the Department of Energy and ERC.
Security and Safety Measures
The law embeds consumer safeguards: lifeline rates for low-income households, automatic fuel-cost adjustment mechanisms, reliability standards for transmission, and criminal and civil penalties for market abuse, manipulation of spot prices, and unlawful cross-subsidization.
Historical Context
The law responded to the debt and supply crisis inherited from the National Power Corporation and the power-shortage era of the early 1990s that produced costly independent power producer contracts. Passed early in the Arroyo administration, it took years to implement, with WESM operations beginning in Luzon in 2006 and retail open access starting in 2012.
Challenges and Controversies
Two decades on, the Philippines still posts among the region’s highest electricity rates, prompting consumer groups to call for EPIRA’s review or repeal. Criticisms include slow and incomplete privatization, PSALM’s lingering stranded debts charged to consumers, thin competition in generation, and repeated spikes in generation charges during plant shutdowns and fuel supply disruptions.
Related Topic
Department of Energy