Veco calls on solar users to enlist in net metering

CEBU, Philippines — The Visayan Electric Company, Inc., (VECO) has reiterated its call to residential and corporate customers who are currently using solar panels to enroll to the company’s Net Metering program.

VECO is currently sending letters to clients known to have been using solar facilities but are yet to enroll with the program, said the company's chief operating officer (COO) Anton Mari G. Perdices.

Residential or commercial customers who have existing solar facilities that have a capacity of 100kw and below are eligible for enrollment in the Net Metering program.

The Net Metering Program allows customers of Distribution Utilities (DUs) to install an on-grid Renewable Energy (RE) facility not exceeding 100 kilowatts (kW) in capacity so they can generate electricity for their own use.

Any electricity generated that is not consumed by the customer is automatically exported to the DU’s distribution system.

The DU then gives a peso credit for the excess electricity received equivalent to the DU’s blended generation cost, excluding other generation adjustments, and deducts the credits earned to the customer’s electric bill.

“We are encouraging those who already have solar technology in their homes to enroll in the VECO Net Metering Program. This way we can install the correct metering system and they get to earn more from selling the excess power generated from their system,” said Perdices.

Aside from the opportunity to earn extra for excess power generated by their solar facility, VECO customers who are not yet enrolled in the Net Metering Program will also be able to get the correct metering system that is intended for customers who are using solar technology.

The VECO Net Metering Program uses a bi-directional metering system that records the power that a customer buys from VECO, as well as the solar power that the customer sells to VECO.

VECO’s biggest Net Metering customer based on capacity is Cebu-based Sunpride Foods, Inc., a meat processing company. Sunpride Foods joined VECO’s Net Metering Program in 2015 with a capacity of 96kw.

Sunpride Marketing Manager Don Hanley T. Wong said the solar power that they generate is basically used to power their slaughterhouse facility.

At present, VECO has a total of 53 net metering customers to date, with a total capacity of 413kw. Seven of these customers are commercial while the rest are residential. It started offering the Net Metering Program in 2013 with only one customer and a total capacity of 3kw.

The net-metering scheme is the first non-fiscal incentive mechanism under the Renewable Energy (RE) Act of 2008. It is a billing mechanism that credits solar energy system owners for the electricity they add to the grid. (FREEMAN)