While the battle against climate change is a global concern, it’s a fight that is more significant for the Philippines because we bear the brunt of its catastrophic effects as one of the world’s most vulnerable countries—every year we face an onslaught of deadly typhoons that only seem to get stronger and stronger. It is imperative that we do everything we can to mitigate climate change not only for ourselves but for future generations as well.
This is why the shift to renewable energy for our country is urgent and inevitable. The use of fossil fuels as an energy source does not only contribute to climate change, but at this point is impractical. While our country has no significant carbon intensive fossil fuel deposits, it is abundant in resources that power geothermal, hydro, wind, and solar energy. According to the World Wide Fund for Nature – Philippines, renewable energy has also generated more jobs and has helped lower the cost of electricity.
Unfortunately, most Filipinos can’t choose their electricity supplier, so they aren’t given the option to get their electricity from alternative energy sources if they wanted to. But thanks to the Department of Energy’s Green Energy Option Program or GEOP, that will soon change.
The GEOP is a game-changing mechanism under the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 that allows power customers to choose alternative energy to power their businesses. Customers with an average monthly peak demand of at least 100KW for the past 12 months may participate in the GEOP.
Qualified end users first need to inform their current distribution utility (DU) that they are interested in the program and then show their preferred GEOP supplier their electric bills for the last year. Once an offer has been made by the GEOP supplier and a contract has been signed, end users can then inform their DU of the effectivity of their GEOP contract. It is then up to the GEOP supplier to enter a Distribution Wheeling Service Agreement with the end user’s DU. It is also up to the GEOP supplier to get the switch approved by the Central Registration Body (CRB). In a nutshell, the GEOP supplier should assist the end user with the whole process to ensure that the transition is smooth.
Participating in the GEOP allows you to choose geothermal, solar, wind, hydro, or biomass energy to power your business. This can benefit over 20,000 businesses in the country, which can give the renewable energy sector the boost it deserves. Becoming a GEOP pioneer will not only help your business become greener and potentially save more money, but it can also pave the way to get the whole country running on renewable energy to make it greener.
The good news is, the GEOP market is expected to be in full commercial operations this year, at least for Luzon and Visayas. In fact, Energy Development Corporation’s subsidiary, Bacman Geothermal, Inc. (BGI), was awarded a GEOP operating permit last year. BGI will facilitate all necessary registration and transfer requirements for prospective customers.
Interested in shifting to the GEOP? Contact us via [email protected] so we may assist you.