ERC gives GenCos more time to meet listing rules
Published Oct 21, 2025 02:19 pm
The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has eased share listing deadlines and requirements for power generation companies amid widespread difficulty among smaller firms in meeting a decades-old public offering mandate (POR).
In a briefing, ERC Chairperson Francis Saturnino Juan said the commission updated the POR guideline, which mandates energy companies to sell at least 15 percent of their ownership through the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) or via a direct public offering.
However, Juan clarified that the five-year compliance period remains in effect but with an adjusted start date. “The start of the [five-year] count will begin once a generator or distribution utility already has the minimum requirements for listing with PSE,” he said, indicating the agency is recalling the old timeline.
Juan said the adjustment was necessary to prevent smaller GenCos from being disadvantaged by outdated requirements that only larger firms could meet.
He noted that many smaller GenCos cannot list even if they wish to, citing typical PSE listing hurdles: “What about the smaller generators that can’t list even if they want to, because their capitalization hasn’t reached ₱500 million, [or] their earnings for the past three years haven’t reached ₱15 million or their stockholders haven’t hit more than 1,000,” he said, listing common non-compliance reasons.
The ERC chief further elaborated that barring these companies from operating due to non-compliance would risk a 50 percent loss of the country’s installed capacity. This, in turn, could destabilize the power supply and potentially cause electricity price volatility for consumers.
“Can we afford to lose that supply because of this [strict] public offering requirement? Probably not,” he said. “That’s why in the past, we resorted to issuing provisional authorities to operate (PAOs).”
The amendments are intended to align with the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 (Republic Act No. 9136), which seeks to ensure fair competition, industry accountability, and stable pricing for consumers and investors.