The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) officially recognized First Philippine Industrial Park (FPIP) as the inaugural special economic zone to formally transition to the retail aggregation program (RAP), marking a significant stride towards fostering greater energy choice and competition within the Philippines’ energy sector.
ERC Chairperson and CEO Monalisa C. Dimalanta, accompanied by ERC’s Market Operations Service (MOS) Director Sharon O. Montaner, presented FPIP with a “RAP Champion” certificate during a ceremonial switching event held at the Consuelo Park Pavilion in Sto. Tomas, Batangas.
FPIP, a sprawling 500-plus-hectare industrial hub that serves as home to numerous multinational and local companies, will aggregate the electricity demand of 21 of its facilities and two subsidiaries. This collective demand totals 1.27 megawatts (MW), making FPIP the first RAP customer of First Gen Corporation, which will serve as its Retail Electricity Supplier (RES).
In her keynote address, Chairperson Dimalanta commended the collaborative effort between FPIP and First Gen, underscoring the program’s role in empowering energy consumers. “First Gen should be leading this milestone, as we are now witnessing the birth of the first generation of consumers who will no longer think in ‘analog’ terms when it comes to power procurement,” she stated. “This is the next generation of consumers that will fully embrace the power of choice: informed, empowered, and knowing the ‘captive supply’ only as a thing of the past – a distant point in our country’s energy history.”
Chairperson Dimalanta further challenged First Gen to continue its leadership by encouraging more of its ventures and other institutions to participate in the RAP. “I also hope this serves as just the beginning for First Gen. I challenge you to raise the bar even higher: to bring RAP to more of your ventures and to encourage more institutions to make the switch. Be the example others can look to, so that together, we can unlock not just greater energy choice, but also greater collective savings across sectors.”
The Retail Aggregation Program is designed to enable qualified end-users to collectively procure their electricity supply from a Retail Electricity Supplier, fostering competition and potentially leading to more favorable terms and pricing. FPIP’s pioneering move is expected to inspire other economic zones and large consumers to explore the benefits of energy aggregation.
