The Energy Regulatory Commission is studying the lifting of suspension on the collection of the feed-in tariff allowance amid the softening prices at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market.
“We are studying and monitoring the submissions of TransCo [National Transmission Corp.],” ERC chairperson Monalisa Dimalanta said.
TransCo manages the FIT-All―the uniform charge imposed on all on-grid electricity consumers and is a component of the electricity bill that ensures the development and promotion of renewable energy in the country.
“WESM prices are declining, then the fund is being used up, so we have to check up to when [we can suspend]…We’ll check because I have not seen the simulation,” Dimalanta said.
Dimalanta said that as the suspension would end in August, they needed to make a decision this month.
The ERC in February 2023 directed the FIT-All collection suspension for another six months from March 2023 until August 2023. Before this, the regulator issued a resolution in November 2022 suspending the FIT-All collection from December 2022 to February 2023.
The ERC’s move aimed to bring relief to consumers in terms of a lower power rate by P0.0364 per kilowatt-hour.
The ERC re-evaluated the FIT-All Fund balance in view of the rising level of inflation and cost of living affecting millions of Filipino households.
It found its healthy status which could sufficiently cover the FIT-All payment requirements until August 2023.