ERC sets Q2 timeline for GEAR pricing

February 16, 2021 | 8:03 pm
https://www.bworldonline.com/erc-sets-q2-timeline-for-gear-pricing/

THE Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) said hopes to set the Green Energy Auction Reserve (GEAR) Price by the second quarter, along with a template for power supply agreements to be concluded by winning bidders and utilities.

“The ERC is currently working on the GEAR Price as well as the power supply agreement template for the winning [bidder] and the DU (distribution utility),” ERC Commissioner-In-Charge Floresinda G. Baldo-Digal said Tuesday during an event organized by the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, “REPH100 launch in support of the GEOP (Green Energy Option Program).”

“These will be subject to public consultation within the quarter and I believe this is targeted to be finalized in the second quarter to make it to the target auction (date) in June 2021,” she added.

The GEAR price is expressed in pesos per kilowatt-hour. The green energy auction allows eligible RE developers to offer their output to the rest of the power industry.

Last month, Energy Assistant Secretary Redentor E. Delola said that the department hopes to launch the planned first green energy auction by June, adding that it was still in the process of determining the volume to be auctioned.

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On Tuesday, Ms. Digal said that the ERC is also looking into setting net-metering rules for off-grid consumers, with deliberations set for the third quarter.

“Existing net metering rules are only for those connected to the grid. We think that more end users will benefit if we promulgate the net metering rules for off-grid. This is to be presented to the commission for deliberation as targeted (in the) third quarter of 2021,” Ms. Digal said.

The net metering program is a non-fiscal incentive authorized by the Renewable Energy (RE) Act of 2008, for consumers owning RE facilities that generate power of 100 kilowatts or less. Under the program, these consumers can generate electricity for their own consumption, and sell excess power to the distribution grid. — Angelica Y. Yang