THE Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has extended the suspension of the Feed-in-Tariff Allowance (FIT-All) collection for another six months until August this year to help bring down rising power rates in the country.
“The ERC directed the extension of suspension in the collection of the FIT-All for another six months starting March 2023 until August 2023. Amid high cost of electricity, the ERC’s move will bring relief to the consumers in terms of a lower power rate by P0.0364/ kilowatt hour (kWh),” the agency said Thursday.
In November last year, the ERC suspended the FIT-All Collection from December 2022 to February 2023.
The FIT-All is a uniform charge billed to all on-grid electricity consumers, reflected as a separate component in monthly electricity bills, to cover payments to renewable energy developers who are assured of a fixed rate per kWh for electricity generated by their projects over 20 years.
The current FIT-All rate is at P0.0364 per kWh.
The Distribution Utilities (DUs), Retail Electricity Suppliers (RES), and National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), are directed to report to the ERC, not later than March 31, 2023, the status of its implementation of the suspension of the collection of FIT-All charge from December 2022 to February 2023 billing period.
The directive was issued in order for the Commission to ensure their compliance, as the collection agents. The directive is contained in ERC’s Notice of Resolution dated February 22, 2023.
As of November last year, the FIT-All fund stood at P4,245,136.75. The ERC said the average monthly cost recovery revenue (CRR) collection from January to November 2022 stood at P1,795,344,358.07 while the monthly average disbursements from the FIT-All fund for the same period was at P2,041,946,215.36.
“The FIT-All fund as of November 7, inclusive of the CRR collections in November 2022, shows a healthy fund balance that can sufficiently cover the FIT-All payment requirements for three month, assuming the same CRR collection,” said the ERC.
The collections are then placed in the FIT-All fund managed by the National Transmission Corp., which, in turn, pays the accredited RE developers.