In discussion with the Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC), President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has tackled issues in the processing of permits for energy projects which have always been the biggest headache for investors, especially foreign firms that are not familiar with the socio-political terrain in the country. Apart from permitting concerns, the inter-agency meeting in Malacanang also discussed the "era of high electricity rates" to be faced by consumers during the summer months and onward. As conveyed by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), which is among the state-run agencies called in that Palace meeting, “the recommendation for the energy sector includes rationalization of the secondary price caps, the strengthening of local government units (LGUs) to facilitate energy project implementation, and the connection of small power utility groups to the grid.” For project permitting with the LGUs, it is worth noting that many, if not all, investors are incessantly complaining of the scale of bribery happening within that level of government bureaucracy – and that has been the major factor scaring off investors on energy projects; because the ‘unreceipted portion’ of the pay-off would be often higher than those provided with official receipts. The other deal-breaker is the very lengthy and nefarious way of project approvals done within the domains administered by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), especially for hydro power projects. And once the energy projects already reach commercial development stage, another tough space to navigate for investors is on securing system impact study (SIS) to ensure the interconnection of their facilities to the grid, with sponsor-firms emphasizing that the fastest they can get this process done will typically be 18 months or longer. Even with the energy virtual one stop shop (EVOSS) already being enforced, the investors specified that the other components of permitting just don’t work as they are intended to be, hence, that remains an element turning off investors. According to the ERC, the President apprised PSAC that  “the government is already carrying out most of private sector’s infrastructure development recommendations in continuous support to private sector partners.” On the scathing issue of rate hikes, the regulatory body conveyed to the President its ongoing “review of the secondary price cap (SPC) which was first implemented around a decade ago.” The ERC indicated that it wants to “protect consumers from unwarranted increase in electricity prices,” but industry players tipped off that the direction targeted by the regulator is to impose higher-priced secondary cap for traded capacities in the Wholesale Electricity Spot s  a(WESM), hence, that is a reverse of what is targeted as rate reduction for consumers. The Commission primarily reported to the President that based on its initial analysis, “with SPC in place, price signals are distorted and actual market results do not necessarily reflect the true cost of generation.” The regulatory agency added “this blurs planning exercises on energy security and dampens investors’ interest in the Philippine power generation sector.” ERC Chairperson Monalisa C. Dimalanta primarily noted “we need to ensure that the regulatory framework incentivizes investors to pour in more capital by building additional power plants to bolster the country’s supply requirements.” She further stated “we cannot discount the fact that the price cap is a preventive measure to protect the consumers from the immediate impact of high market prices.”