DOE and NREB Caps Off Public Consultation Series for the Draft Rules and Guidelines of the RPS

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Renewable Energy Board (NREB), in cooperation with USAID B-LEADERS, conducted the last Public Consultation for the finalization of the draft rules and guidelines of the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) held onFriday, 11 August 2017 at the DOE’s headquarters in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.

The Luzon leg of the pub-con is the culminating consultation after the Visayas leg in Cebu City and Mindanao leg in Davao City held respectively last 6 July and 26 July.

The RPS is a policy mechanism under Republic Act 9513 or the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 that requires electric power industry participants, particularly the distribution utilities, to source or produce a specified fraction of their power supply from eligible RE resources.

The main objective of RPS is to increase the utilization of RE by enhancing national and local capabilities on using RE.

“Once the RPS is rolled out, energy consumers have more options on what type of energy they want to consume, particularly the clean and sustainable ones. It empowers them to formulate the right energy strategies for them,” Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said.

The Energy Chief said, “The pub-con is a necessary tool in engaging RE stakeholders in the policy-making by gathering their insights and suggestions to ensure a comprehensive RPS rules and guideline before finalization and endorsement by NREB to the DOE.”

Today’s pub-con was led by NREB Chair Atty. Jose Layug, Jr. as Keynote Speaker together with Electric Power Industry Management Bureau (EPIMB) OIC-Director Mario Marasigan and NREB Co-chairman and RPS Chairman Mr. Juan Antonio Bernad.

Chair Layug said, “We must ensure that the targets we have set for the RPS should not remain simply as statistics, not even as final destinations, but as milestones upon which new targets will evolve.”

Some issues raised during the consultation were the impact of RPS to consumers regarding electricity prices, the implication of RPS to existing power plants, social and environmental impression of the RPS and possible updates on the Competitive Selection Process (CSP) rules among others.

Around 300 participants from representatives of government agencies, NREB, international financial institutions, distribution utilities and renewable energy stakeholders attended the Luzon consultation.

About "WazzupPilipinas.com"

WazzupPilipinas.com is the fastest growing and most awarded blog and social media community that has transcended beyond online media. It has successfully collaborated with all forms of media namely print, radio and television making it the most diverse multimedia organization. The numerous collaborations with hundreds of brands and organizations as online media partner and brand ambassador makes WazzupPilipinas.com a truly successful advocate of everything about the Philippines, and even more since its support extends further to even international organizations including startups and SMEs that have made our country their second home.