Cebu City Councilor Nestor D. Archival has proposed a measure seeking to institutionalize and provide incentives for a net metering program for renewable energy (RE).
Archival said he hoped the measure, which will be known as the Net Metering Ordinance of the City of Cebu, would encourage a shift to renewable or clean energy use and lead to energy sustainability in the city.
At present, Archival said only one RE facility in Cebu City is qualified to undertake a net metering program.
“There is a need to enact a measure in order to encourage the use of renewable energy and enhance participation in the RE generation by ordinary electricity consumers,”
Archival stated in his proposed ordinance, which he presented before the Cebu City Council on Wednesday.
To encourage RE use, the proposed ordinance seeks to waive the prescribed fees for electrical permit application and the applicable inspection fee within a year as an incentive.
Net metering refers to a system in which a distribution grid-user has a two-way connection to the grid and is only charged or credited the difference between its import energy and export energy.
Establishment of a net metering program for RE is provided for in Republic Act 9513, which identifies the program as a mechanism for the on-grid development and to encourage the use of RE.
“The net metering program necessitates the participation of the local government unit, the local distribution utility and the qualified entity. There is also a need to establish procedure for electrical permit application for net metering program in Cebu City,” the proposal added.
The proposed measure covers electrical permit applications for new buildings and installation of solar PV for net metering with capacity of not more than 100 kilowatts (kW) as well as for the new installation of solar PV for net metering in an old or existing building with capacity of up to 100 kW.
The proposed ordinance specifies the requirements for an electrical permit application as well as the schedule of inspection fees, ranging from P1,000 to P10,000, depending on the amount of energy.
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