The Energy Regulatory Commission has directed all on-grid distribution utilities to take several actions to speed up the processing of net-metering applications.
This is in line with the directive of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during his July 28, 2025, State of the Nation Address.
“In response to the President’s call for us to streamline the net metering applications to make it easier for our countrymen that want to avail of this incentive mechanism. When they put up a solar facility on their rooftop and then they get to export and then be paid whatever export that they have to their distribution utilities,” ERC chairperson Francis Saturnino Juan said.
“We have already identified the improvements in our rules like mandating only the minimum, the barest minimum of requirements. So the distribution utility should only prescribe very limited 3 or 4 requirements to make it easier. Plus, there should be uniform requirements so each utility will no longer have its own because that also takes time,” he said.
In its advisory, the ERC mandated that the DUs standardize and simplify the documentation required for net-metering applications.
Net-metering is a scheme that allows electricity users to build a renewable energy facility to generate electricity primarily for their own use and sell any unused electricity to the grid.
The most common RE facility under the program is rooftop solar photovoltaics, which are generally referred to as a form of distributed generation or distributed energy resources.
The ERC further stated that the list of requirements a qualified user must submit to the DUs is limited to the application form, a certificate of final electrical inspection, an amended net-metering agreement and a certificate of compliance application fee.
The ERC said the DUs may not impose additional requirements, such as a bill of materials or solar equipment catalogs. It added that DUs, as part of their obligation to file a certificate of compliance with the ERC on behalf of their customers, are responsible for completing the Revised COC Form No. 1.
The regulator said that for residential installations filed by an existing customer who wants to install an RE facility on their property, the difference in cost charged by the distribution utility for replacing the required bi-directional meter may not exceed 3,000 pesos.
The ERC said the DUs are obligated to conduct testing and commissioning, to be performed by their personnel at no cost to the net-metering applicant.
“Should the DU delegate such to a third party, the cost shall not be charged to the customers. Likewise, it is part of the 20-day processing time of the DU, pursuant to Section 20, Annex A of ERC Resolution No. 15, Series of 2025,” it said.
The ERC added that testing the renewable energy facility’s components on the DU’s premises is not permitted. The ERC encouraged DUs to begin calculating and applying billing rebates for exported energy effective from the date of successful testing and commissioning. It said this will be reflected on the qualified users’ first electricity bill issued immediately following that date, regardless of when the certificate of compliance application was submitted to the ERC.
Earlier this month, the ERC issued the 2025 amended rules for the net-metering program to streamline its implementation and make renewable energy adoption more accessible to qualified users.
The ERC issued Resolution No. 15, Series of 2025, introducing key amendments aimed at strengthening consumer protection and simplifying the processes for availing of the program. One of the key amendments permits the banking and rollover of net-metering credits toward a qualified user’s electricity usage across current and future billing periods. If property ownership changes, the credits may be transferred to the new owner, subject to conditions such as a conforme letter from the original owner.
