ERC: Green energy pricing scheme to be out in June

By Jordeene B. Lagare January 30, 2021

https://www.manilatimes.net/2021/01/30/business/green-business/erc-green-energy-pricing-scheme-to-be-out-in-june/834929/

 

THE Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) will unveil in June the pricing scheme for the government’s initiative that allows electricity end-users to source electricity from clean energy sources.

“ERC needs to set the methodology for setting the prince. We will work on this to make it to June,” said ERC Commissioner Floresinda Digal on Wednesday, referring to the green energy option program (GEOP) and the distributed energy resources (DER).

The regulatory agency has sought the assistance of the United States Agency for International Development (Usaid) to work on the pricing mechanism.

Promulgated in 2018, GEOP is an initiative that allows consumers with consumption of at least 100 kilowatts to tap renewable energy (RE) sources from retail electricity suppliers.

So far, Bacman Geothermal Inc., First Gen Energy Solutions Inc., SN Aboitiz Power-Magat Inc., SN Aboitiz Power-Res Inc., AC Energy Philippines Inc. and Sparc-Solar Powered Agri-Rural Communities Corp. are the authorized renewable suppliers under GEOP as of the end of 2020.

Under the green energy program, an entity needs to obtain a license from the Department of Energy before it can supply renewables to electricity end-users.

On the other hand, the DER refers to smaller power sources that could be aggregated to provide the electricity necessary to meet power demand.

The agency is prioritizing the promulgation and implementation of the rules governing GEOP and DER, which are targeted to be promulgated within the first half of the year, Digal added.

“[W]e’re planning to have these rules finalized for implementation so that the consumers could benefit from it this first quarter of 2021 up to the second quarter,” she said during a virtual event organized by Usaid and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

“[The] Energy Regulatory Commission is still in the process of coming up with rules on DER,” Digal said, adding the agency is focusing its efforts towards providing more people more options to meet their energy requirements at the least cost.