I MUST begin this column by addressing the overwhelmingly sad news I received late Tuesday afternoon of the passing of The Manila Times’ chairman emeritus and one of my great mentors — really, more of an accidental stepfather — Dr. Dante A. Ang. I will at some point in the very near future write the personal memorial that he deserves, but I cannot now; the sadness is still too raw. One of DAA’s most useful pieces of advice to me, out of innumerable bits of wisdom he shared over the 13-plus years I knew him, was to get my emotional reaction to whatever topic was at hand under control before I wrote about it.
And so that is what I will do. In the meantime, the show must go on. And he would have agreed with that, too. Be that as it may, this column will be a bit shorter than usual, as I am expediting my work today (Wednesday) in order to pay my respects.
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In a recent Senate hearing, Larry Fernandez, vice president and head of utility economics for the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) may have sparked a new controversy regarding solar power by relating that the nation’s largest distributor supports stricter regulation of rooftop solar installations, including standardization of key components, certification of installers and a “crackdown” on so-called guerrilla installations, those that are done without registration and the corresponding building and safety permits. On the other hand, Fernandez also told the Senate that Meralco supports legislative efforts led by Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian to streamline the net metering program, including proposals to grant the Energy Regulatory Commission authority to redefine the program’s scope and to simplify permitting.
That’s how the exchange was reported, anyway, and while that is essentially accurate, there is some context that was left out. That may be why the public reaction to the news was largely negative, with most people forming the impression that Meralco is trying to curb the use of rooftop solar, which is experiencing rapid growth at the moment due to the ongoing energy crisis.
The net metering program is one in which a rooftop solar user can sell excess electricity to Meralco, or whichever electricity distributor provides the service, although I have not heard of any significant amount of net metering outside Meralco’s franchise area. Under the program, the surplus is limited to 100 kilowatts per installation, and Meralco currently hosts more than 20,000 of those, with a combined capacity of more than 170 megawatts (MW). Net metering installations have to be registered, because they require a two-way meter. The most common complaint about the program as it is now is that approval can take far longer than it ought to; I have one acquaintance, who ironically works in the electricity sector, who has been waiting for approval for nearly three years.
Streamlining the program and making the application process more user-friendly is a good idea in the general sense that red tape is annoying and wasteful, but it does not necessarily mean that net metering will or should expand greatly. For one thing, it plays merry hell with maintaining the stability of Meralco’s distribution grid, because solar power is highly variable. It is not impossible to manage, and Meralco does a good job of doing so now, but the risk of instability and potential outages increases the more net metering there are.
For consumers, while the promise of reducing one’s electric bill through using rooftop solar and selling excess power back to the distributor is a powerful incentive, it looks much better on paper than it does in practice. Rooftop solar surplus is only available at the same time as relatively low-cost capacity from grid-scale solar is available, and when Meralco is most likely not to need all or any of the additional 170 MW of net metering capacity. So, a consumer might discover that his excess electricity isn’t being bought back at all, or if it is, it is going to be at a very low rate. In fact, the rate Meralco pays for net metering capacity is usually higher than the rate from a grid-scale generation source due to the way the program is set up, and it is still very low.
As for the estimated 370 MW of registered rooftop solar capacity within Meralco’s franchise area that is not part of the net metering program, typically installed at malls and other large commercial establishments, this is not really a problem, and to be fair to Meralco, the company did not suggest it was. So long as Meralco knows about it, it can adjust its demand profile accordingly and keep power flowing smoothly to everyone else.
A serious problem arises, however, when Meralco does not know about it, which was highlighted by Fernandez in the Senate hearing. Citing data gathered by the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities, Fernandez said that roughly one-third of rooftop solar installations in Metro — which implies something on the order of about 265 MW of capacity — are unregistered. The reason this is a problem is that without knowing about that capacity, Meralco could (and probably does at times) overestimate its demand, which results in its purchasing more electricity than it really needs. That can make the distribution grid unstable, and it can also result in higher generation charges for the rest of us.
Regulating rooftop solar installations makes sense, though it should only be done with system stability and efficiency in mind, allowing consumers the maximum choice. Installations on homes or buildings that are completely unconnected to the distribution system, and therefore do not affect it, should be given a free pass; they only need to be checked for proper installation and safety. Installations that supplement a user’s electricity supply but are not net metering systems need a bit more review because of their impact on the distribution grid, but should have as few restrictions as possible.
ben.kritz@manilatimes.net
Bluesky: @benkritz.bsky.social
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