Navigating market deregulation in Asia-Pacific: Insights into China's continuing reforms
For multinational companies with significant manufacturing operations in Asia-Pacific,...
ERC Resolution No. 22 extends retail electricity choice to facilities with as little as 100 kW of peak demand, opening the market to thousands of additional users.
MANILA, Philippines – According to Resolution No. 22, Series of 2025,[1] issued by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), the eligibility threshold for retail electricity choice has been lowered to 100 kW of average monthly peak demand, effective June 26, 2026. Facilities meeting that threshold may now be enrolled by their owners under the Customer Choice Programs, which include the Competitive Retail Electricity Market (RCOA), the Retail Aggregation Program (RAP), and the Green Energy Option Program (GEOP). In practice, this gives eligible facilities the ability to shop around for a supplier instead of being tied to their Distribution Utility by default, opening the door to more competitive pricing and contract terms.
Under this Resolution, the ERC allows users and businesses with a demand level of at least 100 kW to already choose from any of the licensed Retail Electricity Suppliers (RES) to provide their electricity supply, while their Distribution Utility (DU) will provide the distribution and metering services only. Under the traditional arrangement, the DUs administer both the generation and distribution services by default.
The Philippine electricity market is one of the few markets in the Asia Pacific region that is largely deregulated, and one of the few in the region where users have a choice: large energy users with over 500kW of average peak demand, who have been eligible to select their own electricity supplier since 2021.
What this means for eligible facilities
With the overall positive commercial benefit, approximately 40% of the country's total system demand, equivalent to 3,756 switched facilities/users with a combined demand of 6,356.37 MW, have already switched to the retail market on a voluntary basis according to the ERC. The regulator also estimates that this mandated drop in the eligibility threshold to 100 kW opens the retail market to an additional 11,798 eligible facilities/users, representing 2,382.35 MW of electricity demand.
Of the Programs available, RCOA accounts for the large majority of this voluntary uptake, with RAP and GEOP together representing a smaller share of switched demand.
The guidelines for the application and switching process to one of the Programs are provided under Resolution No. 13, Series of 2024,[2] or the Omnibus Rules for Customer Choice Programs. This regulation also covers measures that protect consumers against market power abuse, simplifies and ensures clarity on the licensing of Retail Electricity Suppliers, and standardizes the requirements for transferring to a retail supplier, commonly referred to as a retail switch.
The regulation also designates the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP) as the Central Registration Body (CRB). In this role, IEMOP manages market participant registration, retail billing settlements, metering coordination, and the execution of customer switching under the Customer Choice Programs.
Get in touch
Should you need assistance in determining whether your Philippine facilities qualify under the expanded Retail Choice Program or would like to learn how your organization can use retail electricity supply to support its sustainability objectives, please contact E&C Group at info@eecc.energy.
[1] ERC Resolution No. 22, Series of 2025, A Resolution Lowering the Eligibility Threshold for Retail Competition and Open Access (RCOA) and Retail Aggregation Program (RAP)
[2] ERC Resolution No. 13, Series of 2024, A Resolution Adopting the Omnibus Rules for Customer Choice Programs in the Retail Market
