ERC to reform public offering rule to boost genco compliance
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The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) is exploring reforms to the public offering requirement (POR) to ease compliance for generation companies (GenCos) while ensuring safeguards remain in place for electricity consumers.
During an open commission meeting last week, ERC Chairperson Francis Saturnino Juan explained that GenCos have a low compliance rate with the POR guidelines, which were designed to encourage public participation through share offerings.
The ERC chief noted that GenCos must comply with the POR five years after being granted their Certificate of Compliance (COC). Compliance is achieved by either listing shares on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) or by registering securities.
“Not all GenCos comply with the requirements of PSE to be able to publicly list, so I think we have to take these requirements into consideration,” Juan stressed.
“If we will push for compliance... we have to prioritize those GenCos that already have the qualifications... Otherwise, we will end up with this situation, where they will not be able to publicly list, and they will find it costly to register their securities,” he added.
Juan noted a dilemma: the ERC cannot fully enforce a stricter PSE listing requirement because many GenCos may not qualify. This could lead to widespread non-compliance and a loss of operating capacity, which could then affect end-users through power supply constraints and/or increasing power bills in the future.
“What happens is that they [will not] secure a COC from us… Assuming we require the PSE listing, only 50 percent can comply, the other 50 percent won’t,” he said. “So we will deny them the COC and the Provisional Authorities to Operate (PAO). We will lose 50 percent of the installed capacity.”
PAOs are temporary measures given to GenCos that need to begin operations while they await their COCs.
The ERC has yet to issue a final decision, but assured that the commission will find ways to increase the GenCos' compliance rate on regulations, which in turn will protect end-users.
In related news, the House of Representatives on Friday, Sept. 26, approved the ERC’s proposed fiscal year 2026 budget.
The ERC expects the budget to help regulators expedite priority programs, including rate setting decisions, the resolution of pending cases, and ensuring fair competition in the power industry.
“The budget allocation will allow the ERC to hire additional technical experts and invest in the capacity building of its personnel—key steps to strengthening its regulatory work and enhancing the reliability and quality of electricity services nationwide,” the ERC stated.