ERC Approves Amended Rules and Procedures to Govern the Monitoring of Reliability Performance of Small Grid Generating Units

On 05 October 2022, the Energy Regulation Commission (“ERC”) has approved the amended Rules and Procedures to Govern the Monitoring of Reliability Performance of Small Grid Generating Units (“Amended Rules”). These Amended Rules shall apply to all generation companies with conventional and Non-Variable Renewable Energy Generating Plants Units which are connected to the Small Grid or Microgrid System not connected to the National Grid in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, except for Self-Generation Facilities.

Submission of Reports

Article III of the Amended Rules requires the Generation Company to submit an Event Report within forty-eight (48) hours from the occurrence, in case the Generating Unit is in the Unavailable and/or Derating State. For this purpose, Generation Company shall refer to any person or entity authorized by the ERC to operate a facility used in the generation of electricity. 

The said Event Report shall include all Unplanned  Outage reports under ERC Resolution No. 4, series of 2015 and any amendments thereto, with the prescribed period therein. In the event that a Generation Company intends to implement a Planned Outage, as approved by the Grid Operating and Maintenance Program, a report shall likewise be submitted as prescribed in the under ERC Resolution No. 4, series of 2015. All written reports in relation to Unplanned and Planned Outage, shall be copy furnished to iedgenco@erc.ph within the applicable prescribed periods.

Thereafter, the Generation Company shall submit a Monthly summary report every 15^th day of the month following the month in review which must also contain the Reserve Shutdown states of the previous month. The Monthly Summary Report shall reflect all the information and data, as required in the monthly reporting template set forth in Appendix B-1 of the Amended Rules. This shall be inclusive of the information gathered from the 1^st day to the last day of operations of the month in review. These reports shall be submitted by the Generation Company in portable document format (“PDF”) to the System Operator of the Department of Energy and to the ERC and in spreadsheet file (excel) format to the ERC through the Grid Reliability Monitoring System application.

In case of inconsistencies in the reports submitted, the ERC shall validate the reported data with the Generation Companies, Small Grid Owners and System Operator. Submission of incorrect, false, or misleading data shall be subject to the imposition of fines and penalties.

Administrative Sanctions and Non-compliance

Any violation of the Amended Rules, such as the late submission, non-submission and submission for fraudulent reports shall be subject to the imposition of appropriate sanctions, fines, and penalties in accordance with ERC Resolution No. 3, series of 2009, or any other issuance(s) that may be promulgated by the ERC in the future. Such violations shall be without prejudice to sanctions or penalties for violations of other applicable laws or rules.

In case of non-compliance by any person or entity with any of the provisions of the Amended Rules, the ERC may issue a Notice of Non-Compliance requiring the Generation Company to comply and/or explain, within seven (7) days from receipt of the same. After the Notice of Non-Compliance has been issued and the person or entity still refuses or fails to comply within the prescribed period, or the explanation is not acceptable, the ERC shall issue a Show Cause Order directing the concerned Generation Company to explain why no administrative fines and penalties should be imposed.