The Energy Regulatory Commission asked more government agencies to participate in the net metering program to promote energy savings while securing their energy supply.
It said that as of Dec. 31,2022, only 7,583 qualified end-users were under the net-metering program, including 6,120 customers in Luzon; 1,168 in the Visayas; and 295 in Mindanao.
“While the program highly demonstrates potential savings in electricity cost and protection from bill shocks, actual data shows the need for more aggressive efforts to promote and implement the program in many parts of the country,” the ERC said in a statement.
The net-metering program is the first non-fiscal incentive mechanism fully implemented under the Renewable Energy Act of 2008. It enables an ordinary electricity consumer to become a “prosumer” (producer-consumer) by installing a solar facility on its premises.
As a prosumer, the consumer can partly provide for its own electricity requirements by generating electricity from the RE installation. Any excess electricity generated can then be sold to the distribution grid for which the consumer derives rebates in its power bill.
Through the installation of solar photovoltaic panels up to 100 kW, house owners and commercial establishments can enroll in the program with their respective distribution utility to realize savings while providing in part for their own consumption.
“Net-metering empowers consumers to become ‘prosumers,’ giving consumers the option to produce electricity for their own use and selling their excess to the grid, paving the way for the democratization of the grid,” ERC commissioner Catherine Maceda said.
Government offices are not yet mandated to adopt net metering, but the ERC and the Department of Energy presented to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. the direct benefits derived from the program as well as protection against rising electricity prices on the back of the positive experience of the Commission on Audit and other local government units.
The ERC awarded the certificate of compliance as a qualified end-user under the program to COA on Jan. 16, 2023.
“The COA in partnership with the Philippine National Oil Company Renewables Corp. installed the rooftop panels in 2017 to show support to the renewable energy drive of the government and to utilize alternative sources of electricity at least cost,” COA chairperson Gamaliel Cordoba said.
“Five years after the installation of the solar panels, we are seeing the benefits in the savings generated. For January to September 2022 alone, we have generated total savings of more than P800,000 for both buildings. We hope that more agencies will see the benefits and be encouraged to follow in our footsteps, ” Cordoba said.
The ERC said that with the government leading the way in the initiative, it expected to see a significant increase in the net metering program participants.