Lopez-controlled First Gen Corp. announced Monday that its subsidiary, Fresh River Lakes Corp. (FRLC), has secured a P15 billion loan from three local banks.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the company said FRLC—which owns and operates the 165-megawatt (MW) Casecnan hydroelectric power plant in Nueva Ecija—signed loan agreements with BDO Unibank Inc., Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), and Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) on July 18, 2025.
First Gen said the loan will be used for FRLC’s general corporate requirements.
“This latest financing will further strengthen our ability to continue delivering a competitive and dependable portfolio of clean energy to the nation. We deeply appreciate the continued trust and support of our partner banks BDO, BPI, and RCBC,” Emmanuel Singson, First Gen chief financial officer stated.
Meanwhile, First Gen president and chief operating officer Francis Giles Puno told reporters at a corporate event in Batangas that the loan also helps finance the acquisition of the Casecnan asset.
“If you recall, we needed to fund Casecnan’s operations, which First Gen initially covered. Now, FRLC—the owner of Casecnan—has become the borrowing entity. We borrowed P15 billion from BPI, BDO, and RCBC to finance the original acquisition and repay the parent,” Puno explained.
In May 2023, First Gen submitted the winning bid of $526 million to acquire the Casecnan hydroelectric facility from the government through the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp.
In a related development, First Gen partnered with sister company First Philippine Industrial Park (FPIP) to participate in the government’s Retail Aggregation Program (RAP).
RAP enables multiple end-users with individual consumption below the 500-kilowatt threshold—located within the same franchise area and under certain conditions—to aggregate their demand and contract with a preferred supplier at an agreed price.
Under the agreement, First Gen, through subsidiary First Gen Energy Solutions (FGES), will supply renewable energy to 21 facilities operated by FPIP and its two subsidiaries within the Batangas ecozone. The total contracted renewable capacity stands at a minimum of 1.27 MW.
First Gen said this marks the first instance of qualified customers inside an industrial park pooling their power needs and negotiating directly with a renewable energy supplier under RAP.
“Our goal is to demonstrate that stable, cost-efficient renewable energy is possible,” said Puno, who also serves as president of FPIP.
To qualify for RAP, FPIP consolidated its power requirements with those of FPIP Property Developers and Management Corp. and FPIP Utilities Inc.
These subsidiaries help operate support services across FPIP’s 600-hectare ecozone, including wastewater treatment, water distribution, and industrial security for more than 150 locators.
FPIP is a joint venture between Lopez-led First Philippine Holdings Corp. and Japan’s Sumitomo Corp., and hosts global firms such as Collins Aerospace, Philippine Manufacturing Co. of Murata Inc., Dyson, Canon, Honda, and Nestlé.
