The next policy direction that will be formulated for renewable energy will be the ‘green energy option’ which shall empower end-users to choose RE as their power supply source.

The program will have to be set up by the Department of Energy (DoE) while the regulatory framework would be crafted by the Energy Regulatory Commission.

ERC director for planning and information services Francisco Villa Jr. explained that “the Green Energy Option” is a mechanism to be used to empower end-users to choose renewable energy in meeting their energy requirements.”

By then, the end-users will already gain supremacy with respect to contracting supply from RE  facilities to satiate their respectively power supply.

The energy department, it was noted, will devise the program in consultation with and based on inputs from the National Renewable Energy Board.

Apart from the program design and rate-setting regulatory framework, the policy will also need to assure that the infrastructure of the power utilities will be able to support the initiative.

Similarly, on the commercial arrangements which may be done in part via the proposed Renewable Energy Market (REM), the spot market operator Philippine Electricity Market Corporation (PEMC) must also be ready to take on that added task.

“All relevant parties should provide the mechanisms for the physical connection and commercial arrangements necessary to ensure the success of the program,” Villa noted.

The ‘green energy option’ is expected as the next exciting part in the whole RE policy because that will then gauge the readiness of the Filipino consumers on pursuing ‘green energy alternatives’ as compared to getting used to the traditional fuels in meeting the country’s energy needs.