Industrial sector offered access to upcoming NOME auctions

A late revision made to a section of a draft bill for the upcoming NOME auctions will permit industrial consumers to participate. The specific category of consumers had originally been excluded from the right to take part in the auctions, along with PPC, the main power utility, whose status remains unchanged.

The NOME auction plan, ratified on Sunday night as part of a superbill of measures required by the country’s international lenders, is scheduled to be launched in September. NOME auctions are expected to provide considerable impetus to the bailout-related effort aiming to reduce PPC’s wholesale and retail electricity market shares.

NOME auctions will provide third parties with access to PPC’s low-cost lignite and hydropower sources as part of the bailout-related obligation to help break the utility’s dominance.