ERC cuts permit processing time
By Lenie Lectura – December 6, 2024
from Business Mirror
The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has reduced the processing time of the various permits of power firms.
On Thursday, the ERC said it has issued 3,959 Certificates of Compliance (COCs) and 334 Provisional Authorities to Operate (PAOs) from January to November. In November alone, the ERC approved 321 COCs and 19 PAOs to generation companies (gencos), Self-Generating Facilities (SGFs), Distributed Energy Resources (DERs), and Qualified End-users (QEs) based in various areas in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
“This year, we have been able to process approvals and issuances of COCs and PAOs within 30-45 days from submission–a timeline that is much shorter than the 60 days given to us under the Energy Virtual One-Stop Shop (EVOSS) Law for these permits,” said ERC Chairperson Monalisa C. Dimalanta.
The ERC issues COCs to authorize the operation of power plants or other generating facilities, while PAOs allow gencos to commence operations pending the issuance of their COCs. The operation of these power facilities accounts for a total of 24,092.79 megawatts (MW) of supply to the country’s power grid.
The ERC has yet to provide details as to how many of these power plants are already injecting supply to the grid. Nonetheless, it stressed that this move paves the way for greater energy security, with the additional capacity from new grid-connected facilities, and increased affordability as consumers realize savings from generating their own power to meet their requirements.
“We see our efforts to streamline our processes bearing fruit as our teams beat statutory timelines in processing permits. What used to take 3-6 months for us, we are now able to accomplish in half the time.
We will continue to work on out other processes so that our stakeholders will soon feel the impact of the improved systems we have put in place,” Dimalanta said via Viber.
The commission issues the permits pursuant to Section 6 of Republic Act 9136 or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001, which mandates new power generation facilities to secure approval from the ERC prior to operation.
