EPDPnews Volume I • Issue 3 January 2016

with funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The program aims to enhance the capacity of the government to manage energy-related issues and promote sustainable energy development in the Philippines. EPDP fellows conducted research studies on policy options for sustainable energy development, equitable access, and lower electricity prices for Filipinos. The research papers examined topics such as forecasting Philippine long-term aggregate electricity demand, the value-added tax and its impact on electricity prices, and the assessment of the Philippine power sector. The research findings will be presented at the EPDP Conference 2016 on January 12-13 in New World Hotel Makati. EPDP also organized two energy sessions during the Philippine Economic Society's 53rd Annual Meeting on November 10, 2015. The sessions focused on the power sector in the Philippines and empirical and computational research on Philippine electricity. EPDP fellows presented their research studies, which included topics such as the economics and politics of power plant approvals, principles of electricity policy, and the market testing of power supply agreements. In addition to research and conference activities, EPDP conducted a training course on survey data analysis for 18 staff from the Department of Energy and the National Electrification Administration. The training course covered statistical concepts, economic data, and sampling processes, and was designed to enhance the capacity of government staff to analyze energy statistics and economic data. The program also revisited its research agenda, with the research fellows joined by members of the Program Steering Committee. The research agenda includes topics such as the sector policy landscape, the economics and politics of power plant approvals, and the market testing of power supply agreements. EPDP's capacity-building programs have trained over 80 government staff from five agencies on competitive electricity markets and analysis of power sector projects. The program aims to enhance the capacity of government to manage energy-related issues and promote sustainable energy development in the Philippines. The Department of Energy (DoE) and the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) issued a joint resolution on October 20, 2015, which effectively turned over the responsibility of the Competitive Selection Process (CSP) to ERC. This resolution averted a regulatory nightmare and allowed CSP to proceed before thorny problems with ancillary policies are resolved. The ERC then issued Resolution No. 13 series of 2015, which mandated that distribution utilities may adopt any accepted form of CSP pending the issuance of a prescribed CSP by ERC.