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Brix Lelis - The Philippine Star
May 31, 2025 | 12:00am
First Gen president and COO Francis Giles Puno said some regulatory policies and market mechanisms were making investments in the energy sector “difficult to sustain.”
STAR / File
MANILA, Philippines — Lopez-led First Gen Corp. is urging the Marcos administration to revisit its energy policies, noting that some regulations could stall investments, particularly in renewables.
First Gen president and COO Francis Giles Puno said some regulatory policies and market mechanisms were making investments in the energy sector “difficult to sustain.”
“We urgently need policy reform to encourage – not deter – clean energy investment,” Puno said at the company’s annual stockholders’ meeting yesterday.
In particular, Puno is calling on the government to reevaluate the current market price caps, which, according to him, drive away much-needed power investments.
A price cap is a regulatory ceiling that limits how electricity prices can go in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market, the centralized venue for power trading.
The mechanism shields consumers from price spikes during times of high demand or supply shortages but ultimately affects the revenue potential of power producers.
“In an ideal world, they (price caps) can be removed, but they (policymakers) can also adjust it so that you allow for generators to make money because it’s a merchant. It’s not running every day,” Puno said in a follow-up interview.
The executive also pushed for the improvement of the competitive selection process in a bid to offer “more balanced commercial terms” to generators and investors.
To allow more customers to choose their preferred energy supplier, First Gen is also calling for the full implementation of the retail competition and open access program.
Currently, only consumers with an average monthly peak demand of at least 500 kilowatts are eligible to contract with any authorized electricity supplier.
Further, Puno has urged the government to continue enforcing the coal moratorium, which bars the processing of applications for greenfield coal facilities.
Latest Department of Energy data showed that coal accounted for about 63 percent of the country’s power generation mix, with renewables only having a 22 percent share.
For 2025, First Gen has programmed around $601 million for capital spending, with the bulk earmarked for its geothermal portfolio.
“Our growth plans include significant investments to expand our renewable capacity and reinforce our flexible natural gas portfolio to meet increasing and evolving energy demands,” Puno said.
