Lawmaker wants provinces to harness renewable energy

Manila, Philippines -  Cagayan Rep. Jack Enrile called on the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to review the recently released Feed-In-Tariff (FIT) rules in order to promote the use of renewable energy in the country.

Enrile said the ERC should promulgate differential FIT rates that are not only based on technology, but also on geographic location.

He noted the ongoing debate on whether the FITs should be based on cost-based mechanism or via competitive public bidding.

He said the location and its competitive edge is another angle that regulators need to include.

“We should be allowing our provinces to harness their natural competitive advantages. If they have the natural resource to produce energy that can sustain their needs, the ERC and the National Renewable Energy Board (NREB) should incentivize them by lowering their FIT rates,” Enrile said.

Cagayan is one of the provinces with a big potential for solar, wind, and tidal (ocean) energy, he said.

“My province, together with other provinces north of Luzon, has an abundance of natural resource that can be harnessed for energy production. We can do this, and thus contribute to the lowering of our carbon emission as well as amend the pricing regime if the ERC and the NREB will issue FIT rates that are just and equitable for all stakeholders,” Enrile said.

The ERC promulgated the FIT rules on July 23, 2010, basing rates on a “per-technology” basis. This means that FIT rates will be different for solar, ocean, wind, biomass, and hydro.

“The rates, however, will be separately approved by the ERC based on the submissions by the NREB,” he said.

The FIT represent a guaranteed payment for renewable energy investors via universal charge. Proposed rates are P7 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for biomass, P6.15/kWh for run-of-river electricity, P10.37/kWh for wind power, P17.65/kWh for ocean technology and P17.95/kWh for solar. These are estimated to add around P0.12/kWh to consumers’ electricity bills.

Enrile is set to launch a campaign for the use of solar and tidal energy in Cagayan province.