Renewable energy firms ask DOE and ERC to review setting of prices on green energy auction

RENEWABLE energy companies asked the Department of Energy and the Energy Regulatory Commission to look into the setting of prices under the Green Energy Auction Program 2 following the low investor turnout of the auction.

“While the DOE did not meet its aspiration in this round, it would be good to review and assess several factors that yielded such results,” European Chamber of Commerce’s renewable energy and energy efficiency committee cochairman Jose Layug Jr. said.

The GEAP 2 generated 3,580.76 megawatts of committed capacities from RE developers, or around 30 percent of the total 11,600 MW available for 2024 to 2026.

The remaining 8,000 MW remain unsubscribed, and the DOE has not yet issued a decision whether to conduct another auction round this year.

Layug lauded the efforts of the DOE and ERC in the aggressive transition to renewables with the ambitious RE installation targets, but said other factors should be reviewed such as the GEAR prices for each RE technology that may expose potential bidders to risk of financial losses, comparative price levels in WESM and retail market.

Layug said another issue is the practical period needed by developers to sufficiently prepare for the bids.

“Ultimately, price is the most significant factor in endeavors like this, so it should be set at a level that is most optimal to all stakeholders,” he said, noting the experience of the feed-in tariff regime.

“But we fully support the DOE and ERC in their continuing efforts to push for more RE capacities. The private sector hopes to continue to collaborate with the government to ensure maximum utilization of renewable energy resources,” Layug said.

Meanwhile, Philippine Solar and Storage Energy Alliance chairperson Tetchi Capellan expressed hope the ERC would listen to the developers.

“We urge ERC to seriously examine the tariff rates in the GEA Program. The rates are not reflecting the realities of the current demand and supply of electric- ity in the country, nor is it encouraging developers to build,” she said.

The ERC pegged the prices for GEA-2 at P4.4043 per kilowatt-hour for ground-mounted solar, P4.8738 per kWh for rooftop solar, P5.3948 per kWh for floating solar, P5.8481 per kWh for onshore wind, P5.4024 per kWh for biomass and P6.2683 per kWh for biomass waste-to-energy. “We believe that for the industry to deliver the ambitious target of the President, there has to be an honest-to-goodness realization of the current market prices. Without this, future GEAP will fail to entice developers,” Capellan said. Alena Mae S. Flores

The SEC said the four firms were not registered with the SEC and were not authorized to solicit investments from the public as they have not secured required license from the corporate regulator.

It said that based on investigation, DFA was impersonating and misappropriating the logo of Dairy Farmers of America “in illegal solicitation of investments to the public”.

The SEC said Dairy Farmers of America is a legitimate farmer-owned milk marketing cooperative and dairy processor based in Kansas, USA and is not in any way connected to DFA which is operating in the country.

It said DFA was enticing investors to invest in the company to purchase cattle to be raised for milking purposes. Profits from the sale of milk are supposed to be given to investors.

DFA reportedly promises guaranteed returns from as low as 3 percent to as high as 66 percent for investments ranging from P100.00 to P10,000.00 in one to 30 days. The entity also offers referral commission for any direct recruit, according to the SEC.

The SEC said Reigns Profit Sharing was also urging the public to invest in its business scheme for a promise of high monetary rewards or profits, such as earnings of 70 percent up to 120 percent after 30 days.