By Myrna M.Velasco
The feed-in-tariff allowance (FIT-All) line item in the electric bills of consumers had been reduced by P0.0337 per kilowatt-hour from the current P0.2563 per kwh charge in the billings.
ERC logo(Photo courtesy of www.erc.gov.ph)
The resulting FIT-All then had been tamed to the level of P0.2226 per kwh, instead of the higher P0.2932 per kwh that was originally applied for by FIT Fund administrator National Transmission Corporation.
Energy Regulatory Commission Chairperson Agnes T. Devanadera has directed that the adjusted FIT-All be already enforced in the “immediate succeeding billing period.”
In its decision, the regulatory body has indicated that “the ERC-approved FIT-All is lower by P0.0706 per kWh vis-à-vis TransCo’s proposed rate.”
It further qualified that on the whole, the FIT-All charge had been reduced by v0.0337 per kWh versus the prevailing rate.
The industry regulator explained that “the variance is attributed to the discrepancy in the plant capacities used by TransCo and ERC in computing the FIT-All.”
It expounded that in particular, “ERC made use of the capacity of FIT-eligible plants with approved certificate of compliance (COC); whereas TransCo used the projected FIT-eligible plants for 2018,” – including the plants with nomination for FIT eligibility from the Department of Energy.
Devanadera thus noted that “there are diverging factors, such as the FIT rates and the cost recovery rate that contributed to the discrepancy in the FIT-All computation.”
The FIT-All is a separate line item in the electric bills and this accounts for the subsidy scheme paid for by all electricity consumers to the portion of power supply that are generated from renewable energy sources.
FIT-qualified plants are those assets nominated and certified to avail of the FIT incentives based on the outcome of a race that the government had instituted on the completion of corresponding RE projects.
Adjustments in FIT-All charges are being petitioned for annually by TransCo, as generally reckoned on the movement of prices in the country’s electricity spot market.