TransCo files for higher power charge to cover 10-year RE debt
Households face higher electricity bills starting in 2027 under the proposal by state-owned National Transmission Corp. (Transco) to raise the uniform line-item charge that subsidizes renewable energy developers.
TransCo petitioned the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to increase the Feed-in Tariff Allowance (FIT-All) rate to ₱0.2154 per kilowatt-hour, according to a regulatory filing.
The proposed rate is 7.11 percent increase from the current charge of ₱0.2011 per kWh.
If approved by regulators, residential consumers with a typical monthly consumption of 200 kWh will pay ₱43.08 per month for the FIT-All component alone.
The grid administrator said the rate hike is necessary to settle unpaid power generated by eligible renewable energy producers over a 10-year span covering 2016 through 2026.
The FIT-All is a mandatory, uniform tariff collected by distribution utilities across the country and remitted to TransCo. The funds directly support clean energy generation facilities integrated into the national grid.
A delay in sanctioning the 2027 rate or withholding provisional authority could trigger a cash deficit in the FIT-All Fund, TransCo told the regulator. Such a shortfall would leave the state transmission agency unable to pay renewable energy operators their actual statutory revenue on time.
TransCo said that collections are strictly limited to verified output from qualified generators.
Under Renewable Energy Payment Agreements, developers are only permitted to bill TransCo for the feed-in tariff differential once their contracts legally take effect.
The ERC periodically reviews payments to renewable energy plants to align cost recoveries with macroeconomic adjustments, including fluctuations in inflation and foreign exchange rates.
Consumers are paying a FIT-All rate of ₱0.2011 per kWh, following a ₱0.0062 per kWh reduction from the previous billing period.
TransCo argued that establishing an updated rate schedule for 2027 will insulate consumers from sharper, compounding cost surges in subsequent years.