Net-metering systems may no longer need RE certificate

THE Department of Energy (DoE) has released a draft circular that would do away with the renewable energy certificate (REC) for net-metering systems.

“REC meter shall no longer be required subsequent to the ERC’s (Energy Regulatory Commission) issuance of a methodology for estimating the energy or generation of the Net-Metering facility,” the DoE said in the draft.

RECs are issued to participants in the Renewable Portfolio Standards scheme, indicating the energy sourced, produced, and sold or used from eligible renewable energy systems.

Net metering allows power users that generate their own electricity via renewable energy to sell some of their excess power to the grid, credited against their power bills. The program is open to users with a capacity of up to 100 kilowatts.

“The amended Net-Metering Rules addressed most of the economic and technical barriers of the current Net-Metering Program; thus, the DoE deems it necessary to further enhance the current Net-Metering policies and arrangements in order to increase the utilization of RE (renewable energy) through the Net-Metering Program,” the department said.

The DoE is also looking into removing the provision on threshold capacity for net-metering installations.

Under the original circular, any qualified end-user under the net-metering scheme should not be a net generator or producer at the end of each calendar year. “This is to avoid oversizing of the Net-Metering facility, where the annual electricity generation of the facility has exceeded the Qualified End-User’s annual energy consumption,” the DoE said. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera