‘Comply with requirements’

The EPIRA has specified the necessary clearances that generation companies must secure prior to the ERC’s issuance of CoC

The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) on Monday said companies undergoing the competitive selection process would need to be fully compliant to the requirements before being granted a certificate of compliance (CoC).

The ERC was reacting to an appeal by the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) seeking to approve its power plant in Quezon province to ensure that its 455-megawatt (MW) San Buenaventura gets fully operational before the expiration of the Malampaya natural gas field in 2024.

However, the ERC said Meralco has yet to comply with necessary requirements before the ERC can fully evaluate the CoC.

“We welcome the entry of new power plants as these will augment and ensure the sustainability of power supply. However, we will not allow the stakeholders to breach the law and the rules that we have promulgated as they were designed to ensure that the consuming public’s interest is not compromised,” ERC chairman and chief executive officer Agnes Devanadera said.

“The EPIRA (Electric Power Industry Reform Act) has specified the necessary clearances that generation companies (GenCos) must secure prior to the ERC’s issuance of CoC. Unless all the documentary requirements have been fully complied with, only then we can issue the corresponding CoC,” she added.

Under the Revised Rules for the issuance of CoC, the commission has 60-calendar days to act on applications for CoC reckoned from the date of complete submission of the required information, including the completion of the ERC’s technical inspection of the power plant.

Earlier this month, Meralco president and CEO Ray Espinosa said the company is expecting a supply cut of 600 MW to 900 MW next month when the Malampaya gas field undergoes maintenance shutdown. It was supposed to source the supply from its coal-fired plant in Quezon as the plant was scheduled to come online this month.

Department of Energy (DoE) Secretary Alfonso Cusi said at the start of the year that Malampaya will conduct a maintenance shutdown on its facility this October and that the department was working on ensuring that energy supply in the Luzon grid will remain sufficient. The DoE has prepared for the scheduled offline as early as November 2018.