The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will launch by next year a “fast lane” that will facilitate the registration of electricity-related fund raising activities that require agency approval to boost investments in the power sector.
Jevy Paul Francisco, SEC commissioner, said the fast lane, dubbed SEC POWERS or “Securing and Expanding Capital for PowerGen Operators and Wholesale Electricity and Retail Services”, will make the process “faster and more efficient.”
“SEC POWERS simplifies the registration of securities for power generation companies and distribution utilities. Under these guidelines, the SEC Markets and Securities Regulation Department shall complete the review of the registration statement of companies within 45 days from filing in accordance with the requirements of the Securities Regulation Code, the revised Corporation Code of the Philippines and other pertinent issuances by the SEC,” Francisco said at the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines-AboitizPower Renewable Energy Forum in Makati City on October 4.
Francisco said the SEC is also waiving a rule that requires power companies seeking to list their shares to have a public float of 30 percent, in favor of the minimum requirement of 15 percent under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) of 2001.
“The simplified procedure is expected to enhance the inflow of private capital and broaden the ownership base of power generation, transmission and distribution sectors, as provided in the EPIRA law,” Francisco said.
“We will be officially launching these guidelines soon, together with our counterparts from the ERC (Energy Regulatory Commission) to further promote the initiative to covered companies,” he added.
Francisco said the facilitation of fund raising for energy companies will help the country hit its commitment to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. The government has committed to a 75 percent carbon equivalent emission reduction between 2020 and 2030 to keep up with the initiative of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees celsius under the Paris Agreement.
“To uphold our commitment to staying within the 1.5 degrees celsius pathway, renewables are expected to fill a big gap in our low carbon supply mix. Our National Renewable Energy Program 2020-2040 aims to address this by providing an interim target of 35 percent renewable energy in our generation mix by 2030 and 50 percent by 2040, double today’s levels,” he said.
In the same forum, Eduardo Francisco, BDO Capital and Investment Corp., said the financial market has enough liquidity to finance the requirements of RE projects in the country amounting to P450 billion.
Francisco said many of these are RE projects are small and only a handful – one of four – get to the financing stage.