ERC renews certificate of compliance of 3 power firms

MANILA, Philippines - The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), the country’s power sector watchdog, has renewed the Certificates of Compliance (COC) of three power generating companies.

The new COCs include that of Tarlac Power Corp. (TPC) covering three units of Bunker C-fired diesel engine generating sets with an aggregate capacity of 18.60 megawatts all located in Sto Niño, Tarlac City.

TPC is an embedded power generating facility directly connected to the distribution system of Tarlac Enterprise Inc., (TEI), a private distribution utility that serves the franchise area of Tarlac City.

A COC is required before any generation company can commence commercial operations. It has a term of five years during which period the generators are required to comply with the terms and conditions set forth in the ERC’s Guidelines for the Issuance of Certificate of Compliance for Generation Companies/Facilities that include reportorial, technical and financial requirements. 

“The ERC notes that with the dawning of the regime of open access and retail competition in Luzon, generators will have to prove themselves worthy to be chosen by potential customers. As such, the generators are expected to strictly adhere to quality standards set by law in order to protect and promote the interest of the electricity consumers in general,” ERC chairperson Zenaida Ducut said.

ERC also gave the go signal for the renewal of the COC for the power plants of Caliraya-Botocan-Kalayaan Power Co. Ltd. (CBK/PCL), namely: Kalayaan pump storage Power plant stage I’s two units, with an aggregate installed capacity of 300.6 MW located in San Juan, Kalayaan, Laguna; Caliraya Hydroelectric Power Plant’s (CHEPP) two (2) units, with an aggregate installed capacity of 35.02 MW, located in Caliraya, Lumban, Laguna; and Botocan hydroelectric power plant’s three units, with an aggregate installed capacity of 21.995 MW, in Botocan, Majayjay, Laguna.     

The commission also approved the application of First Cabanatuan Ventures Corp. (FCVC) for its four diesel engine generating sets at Sitio Mampulog, Bitas, Cabanatuan City.  

This generation facility is also an embedded generator in the sense that the facility is directly connected to the distribution system of Celcor (Cabanatuan Electric Corp.) bypassing the transmission system. Power generations are solely transmitted to Celcor and are utilized during peak hours only.