The Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC) is urging the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to hasten the appropriation of the net-metering scheme and offset the rise of fossil-fueled plants in the country.
The ICSC said net-metering installations will expand the power supply during peak demand, as well as lower electricity spot market rates, and lower electricity rates through the reduction of transmission and distribution costs.
“Widespread adoption of net-metering will not only reduce electricity bills in the Philippines but ensure growth in an industry bound to rake in billions of investment dollars to the country,” ICSC Senior Policy Advisor and National Renewable Energy Board (NREB) chairman Pete Maniego said.
ICSC, which advocates for low-carbon initiatives in other countries, said distribution utilities and electric cooperatives should be mandated to pass-on the savings attributable to the net metering program to consumers.
“Once we set our electricity fundamentals right, we pave a pathway towards economic development powered by modern and clean energy sources,” he said.
Ernst and Young ranked the Philippine among the top five Asian countries geared to become a large hub for renewable energy.
Regulations dominated by fossil-fuel electricity generation are one of the reasons the Philippines has one of the highest electricity rates in the world, ICSC said.
“Filipinos are burdened by expensive electricity rates so it’s difficult for people to feel that their economic fortunes are changing for the better. The government should aim to make net-metering mainstream across the country, and in turn help people by passing on reduced electrcity prices,” Maniego said.
ICSC’s statements come from a position paper submitted after the ERC’s public consultation for the proposed amendments to the net-metering program.