ERC Approves 4,124 New Net Metering Customers for 2023

MORE than 4,000 consumers are added to the growing list of Filipino “prosumers” – the term used to refer to consumers who are also producers of their own electricity supply. 

As of December 2023, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) was able to issue a total of 4,124 new Certificates of Compliance (COCs) to Qualified End-Users (QEs) under the Net-Metering (NM) Program.

Out of this total number, 3,200 new prosumers or QEs are located in Luzon, 722 in

Visayas, and 202 in Mindanao. 

These translate to an additional 37.935 megawatts (MW) of capacity from renewable energy (RE) facilities installed by consumers to generate electricity for their own consumption or, if there is any excess, for export or sale to the distribution system.

Majority of these new prosumers or QEs are in the franchise area of MERALCO, totaling to 1,972 QEs in the franchise area with 13.899MW of capacity. The other distribution utilities (DUs) with the highest number of new QEs for 2023 are Central

Negros Electric Cooperative, Inc. (CENECO) and Visayan Electric Company (VECO),

with 301 and 178 QE COCs, respectively. 

The ERC has entered into a tripartite agreement with MERALCO and the City Government of Pasig, and into another agreement with More Electric and Power Corporation (MORE Power) and the City Government of Iloilo, for the setting up of

one-stop shops to increase the public awareness of the NM program and facilitate the processing of NM applications, among others. 

The pilot programs also allow greater collaboration in identifying RE opportunities in the LGUs, advance technological development, demonstrations and deployment, streamline processes, and share best practices, knowledge, and insights among the parties. 

ERC personnel were deployed in the Pasig City Hall and MORE Power’s Satellite Customer Service Office to assist the end-users on their QE-COC applications and address related concerns. 

These helpdesks will continue to be implemented in 2024.

“The Net Metering Program is one of the cornerstones of energy democracy. It

allows for consumers to produce their own power and even supply others with

electricity beyond their own needs. We are committed to enabling all our

consumers to have a greater hold of our energy destiny as we continue to

streamline the permitting requirements and make it easier for end-users to enjoy

the benefits of the programs”, ERC Chairperson and CEO Monalisa Dimalanta

Said.

Since the implementation of the NM Program in 2015, the ERC has already issued a

total of 11,707 COCs to QEs all over the country, equivalent to 101.251 MW of

capacity.