Solar, Wind and Biomass Power Philippines? All PINOY could now Sell Electricity to Meralco, any Electric Company through RA 9513

In the new PRESS RELEASE for the ERC issues the Net-metering Rules, All end users who are just a mere electric consumers could now sell their excess electricity through bi-directional meters to the electric company following the price based on the Distribution Utility (DU) Standard approved by the ERC.

 

The Philippines joined the rapidly growing list of countries allowing consumers who generate their own electric power to sell excess supplies back to the electric grid for a reasonable price.

 

Last week, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), the principal government agency responsible for regulating the electric grid, approved a new interconnection standard that will enable net-metering of renewable energy for customers with distributed generation.

 

"The net-metering program will definitely change the electricity landscape," said Zenaida Cruz-Ducut, ERC chairwoman. "From just being recipients of electricity, electricity users may also now become generators, supplying not only their electricity requirements but also that of others through their distribution utilities' system."

 

In a net-metering arrangement, the consumer maintains a two-way connection to the distribution system and is

 

Consumers can generate up to 100 kilowatts of electricity from sources like solar, wind and biomass with equipment installed on their own premises. If they generate more than they can consume, they can sell the excess power supply back to their distribution utility company.

 

Under the new net metering rule, customers are only charged or credited, as the case may be, for the difference between the electricity they purchase from the grid and the electricity they sell back to the grid.

 

"It is a win-win solution, for the electricity end-user and for the environment," said Ducut.

 

PRESS RELEASE ERC issues the Net-metering Rules

07/03/2013

 

In a Resolution promulgated on July 1, 2013, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) adopted the Rules Enabling the Net-metering Program for Renewable Energy, including the Net-metering Interconnection Standards (Net-metering Rules).  The Net-metering Rules allow electricity end-users who are updated in the payment of their electric bills to their distribution utility (DU) to engage in distributed generation. They can generate electricity from renewable energy (RE) sources like solar, wind, biomass or such other RE Systems not exceeding 100 kW that can be installed within the end-users' premises and supply the electricity they generate in excess of what they can consume directly to their DU. 

 

In a net-metering arrangement, the end-user maintains a two-way connection to the distribution system and is only charged or credited, as the case may be, for the difference between the electricity supplied by the DU (import energy) and the electricity it supplies to the DU during times when it has excess RE generation (export energy), both of which are metered using 2 uni-directional meters, one for import and one for export, or a single bi-directional meter.  Under the Net-metering Rules, pending the development of a different pricing methodology, the net-metering customer's export energy shall be priced based on its DU's blended generation cost.  Included in the Net-metering Rules also are the standards, which shall be complied with and observed by the net-metering customer to address engineering, electric system reliability, and safety concerns for net-metering interconnections, such as those concerning voltage level, frequency, and power quality, and those relating to system protection. 

 

Section 10 of Republic Act No. 9513 or the Renewable Energy Act mandates the ERC, in consultation with the National Renewable Energy Board (NREB), to establish the net-metering interconnection standards and pricing methodology to usher in the implementation of the net-metering for renewable energy program.  NREB developed the draft net-metering rules, which after being subjected to public consultations and after a series of coordination meetings and workshops between the ERC and the NREB Technical Working Groups and the relevant stakeholders, was adopted and approved by the ERC.

 

"The net-metering program will definitely change the electricity landscape.  From just being recipients of electricity, electricity users may also now become generators, supplying not only their electricity requirements but also that of others through their distribution utilities' system.  They avoid drawing electricity from the distribution grid equivalent to their own RE generation that they consume, in the process realizing savings in their electricity bills, and get paid a reasonable price for their RE generation that they cannot any more consume. It is a win-win, for the electricity end-user and, more importantly, for the environment because of the additional RE capacity that is shored up by the program," ERC Chairperson and CEO Zenaida G. Cruz-Ducut explained.

 

Resolution No. 9, Series of 2013, Rules Enabling Net Metering Program for Renewable Energy

 

Download the Resolution No.9 in PDF here

 

With report from Forbes and ERC

Continue reading

Chinese general called the Philippines stirs trouble for asking US help to stop the China's Invasion to Palawan

Chinese major general Lou Yuan laughing and uttering a joke that "If the Philippines could not defend their territory, why don't they submit to us" this Philippines is really a trouble maker! 

A Chinese military general told foreign media Thursday that the Philippines plays the character of a "troublemaker" in the South China Sea.

"The role of the Philippines in the South China Sea is actually, in my view, a troublemaker," People's Liberation Army Major General Luo Yuan, known as "The Hawk" among Beijing's military leaders, said in his first interview with foreign media.

Luo said the Philippines attempted to provoke the Chinese government by asking help from the United States, whom he called "biased" over the maritime dispute.

China is on progress of invading the uninhabited islands of the Philippines in the Palawan province and the Panatag shoal of Zambales Province.

A Chinese news analyst had also called the Philippines a "troublemaker" for seeking help from other nations in pursuing its claims over parts of the potentially oil-rich Spratlys region.

Luo, who is also vice minister of World Military Research Department of the Academy of Military Sciences in Beijing, also took a swipe at India and warned the country not to increase its military power at the Depsang Valley border amid China's incursion since April.

"No other major country in this world has been subjected to foreign aggression and invasion by other major countries, so that is why no other country is more eager than China to become strong," Luo said.

China has kept disputed islets being occupied by Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam under surveillance, as it also claims ownership of the territory. China is claiming almost the entire South China Sea.

In an interview with China Internet Information Center in 2012, Luo claimed that the Philippines has an agenda for making a hard line stance on its claim over Scarborough Shoal (called "Huangyan" by China and "Panatag" by the Philippines).

"The Philippine claim that the Huangyan Island belongs to them is based on their own understanding of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea ... The Philippines is testing whether the international community will accept their actions, and whether China will acquiesce," Luo said.

The military academic added that if the Philippines becomes successful in its campaign over the shoal, it will build confidence in its neighbors to also pursue their claims on parts of the South China Sea, which may eventually force China into losing the islands.

"The Philippines wants to find out whether China will completely rule out military action in any event during this period of "strategic opportunity," or even exchange the island in a peace settlement," he said.

Luo also believes that the country is testing the effectiveness of its relations with the US and see whether Washington will take its side on the standoff.

Luo is also famous for his blogs and social media postings. Among the most contentious posts he had written on Chinese networking site Weibo earned over 200,000 comments, according to a report

"Protect the nation's rights externally, punish the traitors internally," he said in the post.

with report from philSTAR

Continue reading