Lopez-led First Gen Corporation and Energy Development Corporation (EDC) have signed up at least 11 new customers for power supply agreements (PSAs) anchored on the Green Energy Option Program (GEOP) instituted by the government.

First Gen-EDC's new customers include Asahi Electrical Manufacturing Corporation; Bulacan HJR International Corporation; Engtek Philippines, Inc.; Goldilocks Bakeshop Group of Companies; HJR International Corporation; Mary Grace Cafe (Bluemantle Industries, Inc.); Puratos Manufacturing Corporation; Puresteel Manufacturing Corporation; and TMC International Corporation.

The latest GEOP-switchers belong to the league of power end-users who prefer 100 percent renewable energy (RE) as a source of their electricity supply to become part of the solution to the world’s worsening climate change risks.

“First Gen-EDC had the most number of GEOP switchers for the first batch, with 11 out 17 facilities signing up to avail of this program that allows them to lower their carbon footprint,” the company noted.

The GEOP customers of First Gen-EDC have primarily chosen geothermal as their energy source because that is a time-tested technology when it comes to providing end-users with reliable, clean and efficient electricity services.

According to Gideon Red Butalid, head of EDC’s market planning and contracts team,

“GEOP empowers businesses by giving them this opportunity to take a strong stand for the environment and future-proof their operations as they become a part of the solution to our warming climate.”

GEOP, as a government-underpinned policy, likewise provides alternative market for RE developers and project-sponsors, hence, it could greatly stimulate capital flow in the next round of RE installations in the Philippines.

Massive-scale RE developments had been the government’s core strategy into the envisioned "energy transition", which will then shift energy investments into clean technologies from the traditional fossil fuels.

For the tandem of First Gen and EDC, a pioneering customer they signed up for GEOP has been leisure and business hotel The Linden Suites. As conveyed by Linden's General Manager Celeste Romualdo, “nothing made us realize more how scarce our resources are than the past 24 months, and an earnest conviction is made by the team to better manage what is within our control, for everyone's benefit.”

For customers to enjoy RE as their supply source, they are required an average peak demand of at least 100 kilowatts in the past 12 months. Upon meeting that requirement, they can already directly negotiate for a power supply contract with their preferred retail electricity supplier (RES) at a volume and cost that will fit their needs.

“This means that any company in the country that meets the average peak demand requirement can now choose which RE supplier they want to partner with depending on their budget and electricity supply requirements,” EDC explained.

Beyond the environmental premium that RE technologies would bestow to GEOP end-users, the Lopez firm said they can similarly “enjoy more affordable electricity rates that mainly come from having zero value added tax on generation charges and fixed rates that are not indexed on our foreign exchange since power is sourced from indigenous renewable energy sources.”