ERC extends suspension of FIT-All in electric bills

For the third time, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) suspended the feed-in-tariff allowance (FIT-ALL) charge in the electric bills of consumers to help ease the financial burden of ordinary Filipinos.

The regulatory body ordered the suspension Tuesday, Aug. 22, the third time the pass-on of the P0.0364 per kilowatt hour (kWh) FIT-All charge to all ratepayers was halted. Although that is a very minimal amount, it is still seen as a cost reduction that will partly ease the financial burden of consumers.

In its order, the ERC stated that the collection of FIT-All will not be enforced next month, September, and that remains to be its standing order “until otherwise lifted by the Commission.”

The stop-collection mandate for FIT-All was first enforced in November 2022 for three months, and extended for six months until July, then it persisted until the current billing cycle.

The FIT-All is a charge reflected in the bills of all ratepayers and the funds accruing from such collections are in turn utilized to pay the capacities delivered by the qualified renewable energy (RE) developers.

That cost item takes the form of a subsidy incentivizing the entry of more RE capacities into the power mix, so the country could realize decarbonization in its energy system.

It emphasized that such decision “introduces remedies to ease the financial burden on consumers at the midst of escalating costs of electricity.”

“With the said ERC issuance, the consumers enjoy the benefit of reduced power cost for almost a year now,” the regulatory body conveyed.

The Commission expounded that “this move comes at a crucial time when inflation and the cost of living have been affecting numerous Filipino households.”

It is worth noting that the rising costs of electricity had been incessantly reported as among the factors driving up inflation rate in the country.