Published September 24, 2019, 10:00
PM By Myrna
M. Velasco
The Energy Regulatory Commission
(ERC) has flagged Manila Electric Company (Meralco) that still has “incomplete
submissions” on its application for certificate of compliance (COC) for the
targeted commercial operations of its 455-megawatt San Buenaventura Power Co.
Ltd. (SBPL) generating facility in Quezon province.
The power facility, which has been
anticipated to go on commercial operations mid-September, is its joint venture
with Thai firm EGCO Group. The generated electricity of the plant is under a
20-year power supply agreement with Meralco.
In a statement to the media, the
regulatory body noted that while Meralco has pleaded for the issuance of its
COC, the ERC indicated that the utility firm “has yet to complete and secure
the necessary permits before the ERC can fully evaluate the propriety of the
grant of the COC.”
It has been previously indicated to
the media that the ERC raised questions on the water rights issued by the
National Water Resources Board (NWRB), which is common to most coal-fired
generating facilities in the country.
Without the SBPL plant getting
commercially on-line this October, it has been cautioned that Luzon grid might
be plunged into tight supply conditions because several generating facilities
will be on scheduled shutdowns.
Nevertheless, the ERC emphasized
that the generation companies (GenCos) seeking COC approvals “must have fully
complied with all the necessary documents and permits required in order to
secure the same.”
ERC Chairperson Agnes T. Devanadera
qualified that the Electric Power Industry Reform Act “has specified the
necessary clearances that GenCos must secure prior to the ERC’s issuance of
COCs.”
She further stressed that “unless
all the documentary requirements have been fully complied with, only then we
can issue the corresponding COC.”
The ERC specified that under the
revised rules for the issuance of COCs, it has 60-calendar days “to act on
applications for COCs reckoned from the date of complete submission of the
required information, including the completion of the ERC’s technical
inspection of the power plant.”
The GenCos are also required to
obtain the necessary health, safety and environmental clearances from the
appropriate government agencies, according to the regulatory body.
Devanadera asserted that while the
ERC welcomes the entry of new power plants, “we will not allow the stakeholders
to breach the law and the rules that we have promulgated as they were designed
to ensure that the consuming public’s interest is not compromised.”
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