ERC freezes tax to cut RE rate

The move is meant by ERC to lessen electricity bills and ease the burden of rising cost of living being felt by consumers

The Energy Regulatory Commission has issued a resolution amending the Feed-In Tariff Rules to suspend the collection of Feed-In Tariff Allowance or FIT-All for three months to slightly cut power bills and ease consumers’ burden due rising cost of goods.

In a Resolution dated 16 November, the power watchdog directed the suspension of FIT-All for three billing months starting from December until February 2023. “The Commission is sensitive to the impact of the rising level of inflation and cost of living to millions of Filipino households.

We join the rest of the government in introducing remedies to ease inflation pressure on our citizens, including those that impact on their ability to pay for the rising cost of electricity due to external pressures,” ERC chairperson and CEO Monalisa Dimalanta said.

Dimalanta noted that the status of the current FIT-All Fund balance is “healthy” enough to cover the FIT-All payment requirements for the next three months.

Review FIT-All fund

However, she noted that the ERC will continue to review the FIT-All fund before February to determine the viability of extending the period of relief to consumers.

According to the ERC, the suspension of FIT-All collection is one of the immediate interventions ERC discussed with the distribution utilities during the Power Supply Agreement Caravan to mitigate high electricity prices.

The FIT-All mechanism was established under the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 to boost development of clean sources like wind, solar, run-of-river hydro and biomass facilities.

Uniform charge

It is a uniform charge in pesos per kilowatt-hour payable by all electricity users calculated and set annually.

This November, the Manila Electric Co., the country’s largest power distributor, imposed a slight increase in the overall rate of a typical household to P9.95 per kWh this November, from the previous month’s P9.86 per kWh.

The adjustment was equivalent to an increase of around P17 in the total electricity bills of households consuming at least 200 kWh.