WESM logs 3-fold growth in businesses’ shift to RE
By Myrna M. Velasco – May 7, 2022, 12:20 PM
from Manila Bulletin
The Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), which serves as the central registration body for the Green Energy Option Program (GEOP), has been registering massive shift of qualified businesses to renewable energy (RE) when it comes to their power supply sourcing.
In just a span of one month, Katrina Garcia-Amuyot, manager for Registration and Stakeholder Services of the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP), noted that the GEOP shift enlistment had already grown three-fold to 53 customers in April from just 17 customers in March.
She added that the additional registrations being processed by the WESM comprise of at least 36 customers that will be switching on their energy procurements to RE suppliers. With that additional number then, GEOP customers will already reach 89.
The expectation of the spot market operator is continued patronage of RE, especially by the contestable customers who are now being catered to by retail electricity suppliers (RES) under the GEOP policy as instituted in the Renewable Energy Act.
The level of contestability for RE supply contracting had been set at 100 kilowatts covering mostly manufacturing facilities, commercial establishments and other medium-scale enterprises.
RE supply sourcing is not only beneficial to the “net zero aspiration” or decarbonization and sustainability goals of “green activist” customers or woke establishments, but this is also essential in the environmental, social and governance (ESG) compliance of corporates.
For customers to be registered in GEOP, they will need to negotiate for RE-generated capacity that they want to buy from their preferred retail suppliers — and these customers can also pitch for a power rate as well as value added services that they want to be included in their service package.
The RE suppliers generally belong to the biggest group of power producers in the country – such as First Gen/Energy Development Corporation, Aboitiz Power and ACEN Corporation of the Ayala group – but as RE project developments thrive, the dominance of the industry’s big boys is already being challenged even by the ‘newbies’ in the energy sector.
Before a company could enter into a GEOP supply contract with an end-user, that supplying entity will need to secure first an operating permit from the Department of Energy, as prescribed under the agency’s Department Circular No. DC2020-04-0009; and then a license as RES from the Energy Regulatory Commission.
It was similarly prescribed that the retail electricity suppliers licensed by the ERC under the Retail Competition and Open Access (RCOA) space “may be automatically issued an operating permit as RE supplier under GEOP,” but subject to the applicant’s submission of requirement documents.
The GEOP operating permit will be for a period of five years; and renewal shall be done at least six (6) months prior to the expiration of the issued license.
According to the DOE, the GEOP enforcement has been targeted “to accelerate exploration, development and utilization of RE resources and to ensure RE supply is available in least-cost manner.”
To achieve that goal for consumers, the energy department further propounded that “RE suppliers and RE generators/developers may enter into joint action or establish a pool of RE supply under the GEOP,” so they can offer wider base of choices and suite of RE supply and service packages to the consumers.
