Published
December 11, 2019, 10:00 PM By Myrna M. Velasco
The Energy Regulatory
Commission (ERC) has flagged several legal drawbacks in the proposed net
metering policy of the Department of Energy (DOE), which it opined could dampen
investment flows in the renewable energy (RE) sector.
The ERC, in its
correspondence to the DOE, has stipulated that “the net metering rules should
be made applicable to all types of renewable energy resource and not just
focused on a certain type of technology or resource.”
What it fears as
probable legal snags could delve with “the multiple compensation mechanism” and
this is also deemed by the ERC as not in consistent with the relevant provisions
of the Renewable Energy Act and the Electric Power Industry Reform Act.
Further, the ERC noted
that Section 6 of the proposed DOE policy (on own-use RE systems with above
100-kilowatt capacity); as well as Section 7 (on own-use RE systems as
emergency supply option) are not supported by the express provisions of the
law.
The regulator similarly
pointed out that the responsibilities being imposed upon ERC under Section 11
of the DOE’s version of net metering policy, had already been addressed in the
regulatory agency’s newly promulgated and amended net metering rules.
ERC Chairperson Agnes
T. Devanadera stated in her letter to the energy department that “there are
possible legal impediments in the implementation of the DOE Circular.”
The chief energy regulator
thus noted that “the cross-cutting concerns of energy security, affordability
and reliability also needs to be considered and addressed.”
ERC primarily opined
“that the use of retail rate as one of the compensation mechanism, as opposed
to the use of blended generation cost that the ERC adopted in its recently
promulgated amended net metering rules, will consequently increase the
generation cost of the distribution utility through the net metering program.”
The agency specified
that its position had been “based on the simulation it conducted on the impact
of using the retail rate as the price of export at different levels of net
metering penetration.”
It cited in particular
that “the resulting retail rate of ₱13.8528 per kwh at the 30 percent maximum
net metering penetration level is even higher than the last feed-in-tariff
(FIT) rate set at ₱8.69 per kwh.”
The ERC added such also
“runs contrary to the EPIRA’s policy to provide the least cost power options to
captive consumers.”
The regulatory body
further defended its move on the recent issuance of the amended net metering
rules, arguing that “it has the mandate to issue rules and regulations
pertaining to net metering.”
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