THE Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has adopted the implementing rules that would allow companies other than the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) to build power transmission facilities.
The rules cover the development, ownership, and operation of point-to-point limited transmission facilities, as well as financing and constructing transmission projects by entities other than the NGCP.
The aim is to speed up the connection of new power plants to the grid, attract private investment in transmission infrastructure, reduce project delays, and improve electricity supply while keeping the facilities under regulatory oversight.
The ERC said that while power generation companies have been launching energy projects nationwide, the construction of transmission facilities that will connect power plants to the national grid have been delayed.
In January and February, the Department of Energy issued circulars to speed up the construction of transmission facilities needed to connect new power plants — especially renewable energy projects — to the grid, while establishing clear rules on who can build them, who pays for them, and how the costs will be recovered.
The DOE authorized the ERC to draft a regulatory framework on the implementation of associated transmission projects by qualified companies; the implementation of priority projects by the National Transmission Corp. (TransCo); mechanisms for recovery and payment; and mechanisms for pass-through charges.
Following its adoption of the rules, the ERC ordered the NGCP and TransCo to submit a draft agreement.
Under the DOE circulars, the ERC is tasked to review and approve agreements.
