ERC issues guidelines for green energy program

by Danessa Rivera – The Philippine Star, 19 Aug 2021

MANILA, Philippines — The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has issued guidelines for the Green Energy Option Program (GEOP) to allow electricity end-users to contribute to the country’s push to grow renewable energy (RE) capacity and usage.

In a statement, the ERC recently promulgated the GEOP regulatory framework which sets the technical and interconnection standards and wheeling fees of RE generating facilities.

“The commission’s promulgation of the GEOP rules levels the playing field among RE generating facilities, as regulatory framework is now in place to make the GEOP finally kick off and flourish,” ERC chairperson and CEO Agnes Devanadera said.

The GEOP is a mechanism under the RE Act of 2008 which provides end-users the option to choose RE resources as their sources of energy.

“The [GEOP] is a scheme that empowers electricity consumers by giving them the option to choose renewable energy as their source of electricity, which is clean and environment-friendly,” Devanadera said.

“In the long run, the GEOP will help us to achieve energy independence as it reduces our dependence on imported energy sources,” she said.

The GEOP rules cover all GEOP end-users, RE suppliers, distribution utilities, economic zone developers, economic zone utility enterprises, the National Transmission Corp. or its successors-in interest, the Philippine Electricity Market Corp./Market Operator, supplier of last resort, Central Registration Body, RE registrar, and the metering service providers authorized by the ERC.

The GEOP rules also identified two types of end-users who may qualify to avail of the GEOP, which are all end-users with a monthly average peak demand of 100 kilowatts (KW) and above, for the past 12 months and an end-user that has been in operation for less than 12 months upon effectivity of the GEOP Rules.

The ERC, under Section 6 of the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the RE Act of 2008, is mandated to issue the necessary regulatory framework to operationalize the GEOP in order to allow stakeholders in the electric power industry to contribute to the growth of the RE industry of the country.

“The ERC fully supports the visions of the Renewable Energy Law and will do its part in order to ensure the proper and successful implementation of the Green Energy Option Program. The use of RE sources will not only reduce our dependence on imported energy sources, but will also reduce the country’s greenhouse gas emission and mitigate climate change,” Devanadera said.