Philippine Energy Policy Wiki

MOC: RPS and the Renewable Energy Market

Status
operative
Confidence
high

The obligation side of the RE Act. The renewable portfolio standard compels generation companies, distribution utilities, and suppliers to source a rising minimum share of their sales from renewables; the Renewable Energy Market is the exchange where the Renewable Energy Certificates that prove compliance are issued and traded. Authority runs from Digest: RA 9513 — Renewable Energy Act of 2008 §6 and §36 through the RE Act IRR. Both halves of the RPS were rewritten in May 2023 — the on-grid rules by amendment, the off-grid rules by outright replacement — so the 2017 and 2018 originals below are historical, while the 2022 increment circular remains the source of the 2.52% figure the current rules carry.

Belongs here: a circular that creates, quantifies, or enforces the RPS obligation, or that governs the REM and REC issuance. The mechanisms a mandated participant uses to meet the obligation — auctions, the green energy option, net metering — belong in MOC: RE Support Mechanisms .

On-grid RPS

  • Digest: DC2023-05-0015 (On-Grid RPS Rules Amendments, May 2023) — On-grid RPS rules as amended. The operative on-grid text: defines generation mix, fixes the 26 December–25 December compliance period, and states the requirement formula with the annual increment at 1% for 2018–2022 and 2.52% from 2023. Requires least-cost sourcing through a Competitive Selection Process (CSP) , names the Green Energy Auction Program (GEAP) and distributed resources as compliance routes, sets REC issuance under a multiple-suppliers arrangement, and narrows carry-over of a shortfall to the next succeeding year only, on a board-approved compliance plan. Start here for the current on-grid obligation and its arithmetic. (2023)
    • Lineage: replaces Digest: DC2017-12-0015 (2017 — the original on-grid RPS rules, which set the 35%-by-2030 aspiration, the 1% initial increment, the three-year REC validity, and the three-year carry-over the current rules cut back), which was in turn amended by Digest: DC2022-09-0030 — Adjusted Annual RPS Percentage Increment (Km) (2022 — raises the annual increment Km from 1% to 2.52% and publishes the schedule reaching 26.50% in 2030 and 51.70% in 2040; still the authority for those figures).
  • Digest: DC2023-12-0032 — RPS Administrative Actions and Penalties — RPS administrative actions and penalties. The enforcement procedure under RA 9513 §36: who may complain and within what period (four years from the end of a compliance period, or one year motu proprio), filing fees, answer and default rules, the RPS Composite Team’s 90-working-day report, clarificatory hearings, protest and reconsideration, and the Secretary’s final decision. Start here when the question is process rather than obligation — how an RPS violation is actually prosecuted. (2023)

Off-grid RPS

  • Digest: DC2023-05-0014 — Revised RPS Off-Grid Rules (May 2023) — Revised off-grid RPS rules. Applies the RPS to missionary and off-grid areas, where the minimum renewable share is set by an Optimal Supply Mix rather than a flat increment. Names NPC-SPUG, new private power providers, microgrid system providers, DUs, and LGUs as mandated participants; lists ten eligible technologies; gives priority dispatch by least-cost true cost of generation rate inclusive of the Universal Charge for Missionary Electrification (UC-ME) incentive; and sets five compliance mechanisms and three area structures for computing compliance. Start here for RPS obligations outside the main grids (Missionary Electrification Framework ). (2023)
    • Lineage: supersedes Digest: DC2018-08-0024 (2018 — the original off-grid rules, whose implementation was suspended pending the REM and RE Registrar going live, and which carried a 50% UC-ME cash incentive for RE developers in missionary electrification).

Renewable Energy Market

  • Digest: DC2019-12-0016 (Promulgating the Renewable Energy Market Rules) — REM Rules. Promulgates the market where RECs are traded: scope across on-grid and off-grid participants in all three grids, the REM Governance Committee under the Philippine Electricity Market Board overseeing the RE Registrar, PEMC’s readiness-criteria and certification path to commercial operations, the REC price cap subject to ERC approval, and annual REM reporting. Start here for market structure and governance (Renewable Energy Market (REM) ). (2019)
    • Lineage: amended by Digest: DC2022-06-0026: REM Rules Amendments (June 2022) (2022 — seven targeted changes: the governance committee expanded from five to seven members to seat sub-5 MW generators and retail suppliers, a bad-faith/gross-negligence liability standard, REC issuance for green energy option volumes credited to the host DU, extended FIT-All data and REC issuance deadlines, and tolling of REC validity during a dispute).
  • Digest: DC2022-06-0019 (REM Interim Commercial Operations) — REM interim commercial operations. Declares the market open in an interim mode: the RE Registrar’s functions activate — registration, RPS computation, REC issuance under both FIT and non-FIT mechanisms, PREMS availability — while financial transactions wait on three ERC determinations (the REC price cap and methodology, cost-recovery rules, and transaction fees). Fixes compliance year 1 as 2020, allows a three-year carry-over on five grounds, and suspends off-grid RPS compliance. Start here for the market’s actual operating status and the REC issuance timeline. (2022)

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