Manila, Oct. 9 -- An Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) official has urged the public to take advantage of the Retail Competition and Open Access (RCOA) program to save on energy costs and choose an electricity provider.

In a briefing Thursday, lawyer Chiara Angela Blanco, ERC Energy Regulation Office's Contestable Market Division chief, said the Retail Aggregation Program (RAP), which is part of RCOA, currently benefits around 311 groups, with 4,997 members nationwide and demand of around 250.01 megawatts.

Initially, the threshold that allows applicants to enroll under RAP was 1 megawatt (MW) in 2013. The threshold has been reduced to 500 kilowatt-hours (kWh) in 2020 and to 100 kWh in June this year.

Blanco said not only the commercia...