Singapore, US energy regulators to boost bilateral cooperation

SINGAPORE'S Energy Market Authority (EMA) and the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) will be enhancing their bilateral cooperation towards greater energy security and resilience.

The scope of their cooperation will cover three key areas: planning, reliability and cybersecurity of the electricity system; regulation of wholesale energy markets, including the role of energy storage systems and distributed energy resources in competitive energy markets; and cooperation at multilateral forums such as the Asia Pacific Energy Regulators Forum.

Activities between the two regulators will include knowledge-sharing and technical cooperation involving training and exchange programmes. There will also be joint research and organisation of multilateral workshops and seminars, as well as high-level consultations and dialogues between EMA and FERC.

The agencies on Monday inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to provide the partnership framework.

Ngiam Shih Chun, chief executive of EMA, welcomed the MOU as a key milestone in Singapore's energy cooperation with the US. "Both our agencies will benefit from sharing expertise and best practices on a range of energy issues," Mr Ngiam said.

Neil Chatterjee, chairman of FERC, said: "Sharing best practices between energy regulators is an important aspect of promoting efficient and transparent regulation around the world."

After the MOU signing, the two agencies discussed developments and trends in the electricity and gas markets, as well as potential energy collaboration for 2019 and 2020.