Energy Ministry has declared that three members of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) will leave by year-end after working at the agency for four years.
Siri: Four-year rotation required
Energy Minister Siri Jirapongphan said the seven ERC commissioners have been in place since 2014. Two of them will resign voluntarily, he said, and the other has reached retirement age.
He did not identify the three commissioners by name.
Pornthape Thunyapongchai is the ERC chairman. The other six commissioners are Kraisi Karnasuta, Duangmanee Komaratat, Pajchima Tanasanti, Vachara Kunawatanawuti, Wilaiporn Liwgasemsan and Viraphol Jirapraditkul.
The ERC's duty is to regulate all electricity businesses such as power plants, transmission lines and gas operators, but the agency has been a tool for political manipulation since being established in 2008.
Mr Siri said that the commissioner rotation has not had to deal with political pressure and that the recent move is in line with the ERC's internal policy requiring commissioners to be rotated after working for four years.
In June, action was taken against the ERC after it rejected a request by SET-listed Gulf Energy Development to be a shipper of liquefied natural gas business.
Gulf made an appeal to the ERC but was rejected again. In response, Gulf took legal action against the agency at the Administrative Court in June.
A source familiar with the matter said several investors have submitted complaints to the government about the ERC.
During 2014-16, energy policymakers asked the ERC to provide licences for renewable energy from solar, biomass and waste-to-energy projects, encompassing many thousands of megawatts.
With the offer of an attractive feed-in tariff for renewable energy, many investors were ready to apply for the licences, but they complained that the ERC took too long to approve the licences.
"They just want the ERC to speed up approval because investors cannot achieve their business plans," the source said.
