ERC issues net metering rules

ERC issues net metering rules

Manila Bulletin

By Myrna M. Velasco

Published: July 8, 2013

End-users intending to generate their own power supply and sell their excess to distribution utilities (DUs) can now plan ahead, following the issuance of the net metering rules by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).

In other jurisdictions, net metering has just primarily targeted solar power generation, but the Philippine energy sector opted to expand the coverage to also include other renewable energy (RE) systems such as wind and biomass, among others.

The ERC emphasized that while a specific pricing methodology for net metering is still being sorted out, the interim policy will be for “the customers’ export energy (to be) priced based on its DUs’ blended generation cost.”

Based on the assessment of ERC chairperson Zenaida G. Cruz-Ducut, “the net metering program will definitely change the electricity landscape.”

She explained that “from just being recipients of electricity, users may also now become generators, supplying not only their electricity requirements but also that of others through their distribution utilities’ system.”

The net metering rules, the ERC said, will “allow electricity end-users who are updated in the payment of their electric bills to their distribution utility to engage in distributed generation.”

The rules prescription will be for end-users to strive putting up embedded RE systems not exceeding 100 kilowatts, and any surplus from their own consumption, can be sold to their servicing DUs.

Ducut added that the target will be for electricity consumers to appreciate savings that they can gain from participating into the net metering program; and “get paid a reasonable price for their RE generation that they cannot anymore consume.”

To enable that, the end-user will have to maintain a two-way connection to its distribution utility. The two meters will measure separately the export and import of electricity by the end-user to and from its servicing DU.

The rules similarly prescribed the standards “which shall be complied with and observed by the net metering customer to address engineering, electric system reliability and safety concerns for net metering interconnections.”

These shall also cover concerns on voltage level, frequency and power quality as well as those relating to system protection.  source