by Catherine Del Villar-Pasilaban, Vice President for Retail Energy Sales and Services
Leading the frontline sales and customer management for one of the country’s largest retail electricity suppliers (RES) while also being a wife and mother, I’ve often heard the word “superpowered” used to describe women like me – those expected to balance multiple roles and keep everything running smoothly.
The word power is defined as “the ability to act or produce an effect.” Often associated with authority or influence, it is not about occupying a position or commanding attention — it is the ability to shape outcomes through the options we choose to exercise.
The word also carries the same meaning in the energy industry. My professional experience in the field has shown me that power, whether about electricity or about people, is a driver of outcomes and a catalyst for communities. It allows hospitals to operate, classrooms to work, and factories to run, making it more than an expense line, but a resource to understand.
When retail competition and open access began in the Philippines in 2013, we were introducing a new kind of power: the power of choice. Under the new scheme, qualified electricity end-users can freely choose and directly transact with a power supplier.
At the time, we carried only the idea of a competitive retail electricity market, along with the conviction that businesses deserved more control over one of their most critical resources, even if they had yet to realize that part. We went out to meet business leaders across the country and talk about a future that has yet to fully take shape.
In its first two years from 2013 to 2015, AdventEnergy, the retail electricity supply arm of AboitizPower, only had around 60 customers. The business initially adopted a “generator-retailer” model — selling supply from AboitizPower generation plants only — but eventually decoupled the wholesale and retail businesses, where the latter focused on retail customers and a power supply-agnostic approach.
Today, that idea of retail competition and open access has grown into a robust, thriving industry – one that has paved the way for transformation within the businesses that took advantage. AboitizPower’s Retail business itself grew to have over 26% of the total market share.
As of December 2025, 2,393 end-users have exercised the power of choice; 809 end-users have switched to the Green Energy Option Program (GEOP); and 1,395 facilities have already pooled their demand for better rates through the Retail Aggregation Program (RAP). These three are the main pillars of the Energy Regulatory Commission’s Customer Choice Programs that enable eligible customers to go where power meets control.
Now, the market is about to expand further.
Beginning June 2026, 11,988 end-users will be eligible to join the market. From the previous threshold of 500 kW, it has been lowered to 100kW to 499kW, allowing consumers — including hospitals, regional malls, condominiums, and educational institutions, among others — to now have access to the same competitive energy options previously available only to larger customers.
According to the Philippine Electricity Market Corporation (PEMC), in the first three quarters of 2025 alone, end-users of the current competitive retail electricity market generated P19.25 billion in savings — an amount which can be used to upgrade hospital facilities, improve educational institutions, and strengthen manufacturing operations.
While this expansion brings opportunity, it also introduces new challenges for us RES providers: customers are more cautious, regulations are constantly evolving, and expectations are higher. On top of that, competition is tighter, with the market comprising 57 registered RES and 30 authorized local RES.
With more opportunity comes even more complexity.
Leading RES providers like AdventEnergy into the challenges of the future would certainly require technical knowledge. But it would also demand strategic insight and innovation, considering the pace at which these intricacies evolve. A customer-facing job such as ours also requires empathy and the ability to understand the ambitions behind every customer, which may include maximizing profit, improving operations, strengthening ESG, or a combination of all those.
Today’s expanded and complex retail electricity market is an opportunity to build on the shoulders of those who did the sales calls at the dawn of retail competition and open access, with just the belief that the future will be better and more beneficial for all players. And today, it is.
The first business end-users made that decision and shaped outcomes for the better. As the retail electricity market expands, even more businesses now have the opportunity to claim that power as well. We look forward to what’s next.