THE Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) said it does not favor any specific energy technology in approving power supply contracts, adding that its decisions hinge on selecting the least-cost option.
“We do not play favorites when it comes to contracts…especially if the contract was procured through a CSP (competitive selection process) — it is the least cost…we will act on it based on our mandate,” ERC Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Francis Saturnino C. Juan said at a briefing last week.
Mr. Juan was responding to a query about the energy regulator allegedly leaning toward renewable energy (RE) over other power generation technologies after it approved higher ceiling prices in the green energy auctions (GEA).
For the two anticipated auctions this year, the ERC set the green energy auction reserve (GEAR) price of P9.30 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for waste-to-energy projects and P11 per kWh for offshore wind projects.
The resulting costs may eventually be recovered from on-grid consumers through the GEA allowance and reflected as a separate line item in electricity bills.
Meanwhile, according to the ERC, all types of power projects, including coal, natural gas, and even potential nuclear facilities, are subject to the same regulatory process of obtaining permits and approvals.
“We will evaluate and approve them if justified by the evidence,” Mr. Juan said.
He said reducing dependence on imported fuel was among the mandates of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 and Renewable Energy Act of 2008.
“As we saw during the crisis, electricity generated from solar rooftops somehow helped mitigate the situation, as it reduced the demand that would otherwise have been drawn from the market,” Mr. Juan said. “That demand would have had to be supplied by other types of generation.”
The Philippines is trying to move away from fossil fuels by increasing the utilization of RE to reduce exposure to volatile global prices and reduce carbon emissions.
The government aims to increase the share of RE in the national power mix from 25% currently to 35% by 2030 and 50% by 2040. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera
