ISLAMABAD: National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) and Central Power Purchasing Agency-Guaranteed (CPPA-G) have reportedly locked horns on draft Commercial Code which is mandatory to implement Competitive Trading Bilateral Contracts Market (CTBCM), well informed sources told Business Recorder.
The regulator has published commercial code on its website accompanying CPPA-G’s application for the grant of a Market Operator licence under clause 23A of the Regulation of Generation, Transmission and Distribution of Electric Power (Act XL of 1997), 1997, along with the Authority’s call for comments on the matter.
On March, 31, 2022, CEO CPPA-G wrote a letter to Registrar, NEPRA saying that upon further internal review, CPPA-G is of the view that the draft requires certain key improvements and revisions prior to its submission to the Authority for the latter’s review.
CPPA-G observed that the changes represent core structural elements of the Code and as the upcoming competitive electricity market is to be conducted pursuant to the said Code, thus they are vital to ensuring the success and long-term viability of the proposed market
CPPA-G requested that further proceedings on the matter may be held in abeyance, and CPPA-G be granted an opportunity to submit a revised draft of the Code reflecting these improvements.
The sources said the letter from CEO, CPPA-G for holding Commercial Code proceedings in abeyance had irritated the regulator.
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In response to CEO, CPPA-G, NEPRA has also written a letter saying that the Authority has expressed its deep concerns and displeasure over the submission of such a letter and the subsequent request contained in it considering the fact that Commercial Market Operation Date (CMOD) of CTBCM is approaching and is less than 30 days away from the target set by the Authority and the highest forum of the Government of Pakistan.
According to Nepra, as per the implementation roadmap of the CTBCM approved by the Authority through determination of November 12, 2020, CPPA-G was required to submit, for approval of the Authority, the draft market commercial code by June, 2021 and Special Purpose Trader (SPT) code by July, 2021. However, the market operator licencing application along with draft of market commercial code was submitted in October 2021, whereas SPT Code, despite several reminders by the Authority, is still awaited.
NEPRA letter says the Authority is of the considered opinion that CPPA-G must expedite its efforts to make CMOD of the market a reality instead of requesting anything which results in any delay in achieving the historic milestone of the CTBCM operationalisation for which substantial actions and progress has already been achieved at the cost of huge resources investment for development of policy and regulatory framework along with the desired people, process and technology capacity building and deployment.
The regulator maintained that market operator licence application as well as the draft market commercial code were made public for stakeholder consultation/comments in March 2022 as per the provisions of the NEPRA Act.
Meanwhile, the Authority has already proceeded ahead considerably in its consultations with the stakeholders on the draft market commercial code and in this connection had week-long sessions with the CPPA-G as well.
The comments were shared by professionals/consultant of the Authority with relevant professionals/consultants of CPPA-G during these sessions and were also incorporated in the draft market commercial code and the draft code was re-submitted to the Authority.
The regulator further stated that previously, CPPA-G had consistently taken the position that the market commercial code has been prepared with due diligence and input from its international consultants and these were submitted to the Authority after its approval by the Board of CPPA-G.
After explaining the background of the matter, NEPRA has rejected CPPA-G’s request for returning or holding the proceedings of approval of the market commercial code in abeyance, maintaining that any such action will cause a delay in the CMOD of the CTBCM.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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