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Manila Bulletin devider Business devider The Economy devider ERC reinstates environmental charge after five years

ERC reinstates environmental charge after five years

Published Nov 7, 2025 01:46 pm
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Electricity consumers may see another round of power-bill increases as the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) announced the resumption of the Universal Charge-Environmental Charge (UC-EC) collection.
In an advisory Friday, Nov. 7, the ERC reinstated the ₱0.0025 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) UC-EC, five years after it was suspended in May 2020. Distribution utilities and the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) will collect the charge from consumers, then remit it to the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM).
ERC Chairman Francis Saturnino Juan said the reinstated UC-EC fund would finance the management and rehabilitation of National Power Corp. (NPC) watershed projects.
“The proceeds are used by NPC for its watershed-related projects. Its imposition was just previously suspended because there were still enough unutilized funds,” he told the Manila Bulletin. “However, with the recent approval by the ERC of NPC’s proposed activities for watershed rehabilitation, there is [the] need to lift the suspension so the funds can be replenished as they are being used for these new projects.”
The UC-EC suspension began at the height of the pandemic, when the commission instructed utilities to issue new billings based on actual meter readings in line with quarantine restrictions.
Juan clarified that the fee is separate from the recently approved Feed-in-Tariff (FIT-All) rate of 0.2073 peso/kWh. FIT-All is designed to support the country’s renewable energy (RE) projects such as solar, wind and small hydropower plants.
Similarly, the FIT-All charge increased because its buffer allowance was depleted, requiring additional funds to support RE assets. No further hikes are expected for the rest of the year, as cooler temperatures and stable supply are seen to temper demand.
Aside from this, the ERC is also seeking to enhance the subsidy fund for lower-income households by imposing a 0.01 peso/kWh charge on non-lifeline electricity consumers. This will finance discounts offered by utilities to households consuming 50 kWh or less monthly, or other qualified beneficiaries of the 4Ps conditional cash transfer program.

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