President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Sunday, October 23, discussed concerns about amending the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) in order to make use of renewable energy to bring down the cost of power.
This came after he was told by Bacolod City Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez that they were thinking of entering into joint venture agreements with solar power generators to enable them to buy the power at lower prices, a press release from the Office of the Press Secretary said.
Benitez said the EPIRA Law does not allow producers to sell to the users but directly goes to the grid.
Bacolod City should get the opinion of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), Marcos said.
He said whatever will be the opinion of the ERC on the matter would be the basis of an amendment to the EPIRA Law.
The amendment to the law is one of the priority legislative measures approved in the recent Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council meeting in Malacañang.
EPIRA mandates the ERC to promote competition, encourage market development, ensure consumer choice and penalize abuse of market power in the electricity industry, the press release said.*