ERC to expand ILP program

MANILA, Philippines - Power regulators want more participants for the government’s Interruptible Load Program (ILP) to bring in additional capacity the country needs for the summer of 2015 by allowing the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) to implement the program. 

The existing ILP rules allow only distribution utilities such as Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) to implement the program. 

Thus, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) proposed amendments to existing ILP rules to allow NGCP, the grid operator, to implement the ILP so that its direct customers can also participate and provide additional capacity. 

The ILP is a program that encourages heavy electricity consumers such as malls and condominiums to run their own generator sets to ease demand from the grid. In exchange, they are compensated for using their own power.

The expanded rules would address the imminent power shortage and augment the limited power requirements of any of the three grids – Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao and not just the needed capacity of distribution utilities.

“These rules shall apply to all DUs and their respective participating captive customer within their franchise area, to all DUs that entered into a tripartite ILP agreement with a retail electricity supplier (RES) and its participating contestable customers, and the NGCP that entered into an ILP agreement with a participating directly-connected customer,” the ERC said in the proposed amendments.

The power regulator is seeking comments from industry stakeholders on the proposed amendments with a public consultation scheduled on Nov. 26.

Under the ILP, a DU and its participating customer shall enter into an agreement wherein the customer may be requested to fully or partially de-load from the DU during a specific period of time as determined by the DU.