Energy efficiency companies want their projects to qualify under BOT law

ENERGY efficiency entities have asked the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center to include energy efficiency and conservation (EE&C) investments to the list of qualified projects under the Republic Act 6957 or the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) Law, in order to facilitate the industry’s access to private-sector financing.

“It is clear that the (revised implementing rules and regulations) of the BOT Law should qualify energy efficiency and conservation projects. We therefore seek explicit inclusion of ‘energy efficiency and conservation’ among the listed eligible types of projects,” Philippine Energy Efficiency Alliance President Alexander D. Ablaza said in a comment submitted to the PPP on Wednesday.

Mr. Ablaza also noted that while section 2.2 of the IRR mentions climate change mitigation, there is a need to mention explicitly ‘energy efficiency and conservation’ projects because climate change mitigation may not be the only purpose or intent of such project.”

“If energy efficiency projects become eligible for PPP transactions under the amended BOT law, through an expanded IRR, government entities may be able to implement energy efficiency projects without allocating taxpayer funding or general appropriations,” he said in a Viber message.

The alliance also sought the synchronization of Government Energy Management Program Guidelines with the BOT IRR’s detailed guidelines for the approval of projects as EE&C projects which are smaller in size, uncomplicated in scope, possessing low to zero negative impacts, which would allow such projects to access a simplified, fast-track project approval process with the corresponding endorsement of the Department of Energy through its Energy Utilization Management Bureau, it said.

The PPP Center is currently soliciting comment on proposed amendments to the IRR of the BOT Law. — Marielle C. Lucenio