The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) is asking lawmakers to consider suspending the mandatory listing of energy companies at the local bourse to encourage the entry of more renewable energy (RE) companies.
Monalisa Dimalanta, ERC chairperson, told the Joint Congressional Energy Commission (JCEC) in a public hearing last week that such a suspension will help accelerate RE development as more renewable power generation companies, particularly the small players, are encouraged to participate.
“We have a pending request at the JCEC on the matter involving the public offer or the public listing requirement under Section 43 of the EPIRA or Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001. This provision of law requires a generation company to make a public offer or a public listing of at least 15 percent of its common shares in our stock market,” Dimalanta said.
However, the ERC said that the RE Act was only enacted in 2008 as EPIRA did not able to “contemplate” the emergence of small RE companies which are going to be challenged if mandated for a public listing.
According to Dimalanta, the small RE players that cater to the bulk of the energy demand in the countryside are typically unable to present a certificate of compliance necessary to qualify for public listing at the local bourse.
“The effect is that these small renewable energy companies are unable to do a public offering and cannot get a certificate of compliance which requires a public offering” of their shares, Dimalanta said.
She said the JCEC may consider suspending the requirement in the case of small RE players and those that are neither part of a portfolio of projects nor owned by big developers.
Dimalanta acknowledged the permanent solution is amending the law but said if this cannot be done quickly, then the hope is that the JCEC “considers a suspension”.
For context, legislators like Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, for example, have since urged to amend existing provisions on the argument that these have restricted rather than encourage the participation of more RE players, especially the small ones that cater to the energy requirements of communities in the countryside out of reach of the large-scale RE entrepreneurs.
Data from the Department of Energy show the contribution by geothermal, hydro, biomass, solar and wind technology providers totaling 8,264 MW or 29.24 percent of the 28,258 MW installed on-grid capacity in the Philippines, excluding battery storage and diesel-battery hybrid systems.
Some estimates show that of the 71,817 megawatts installed capacity seen by 2040, 9,508 megawatts or 13 percent will come from RE providers.
