The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) approved the application of the National Transmission Corp. (TransCo) for a lower Feed-In Tariff Allowance (FIT-All) for calendar year 2019 at a rate of P0.0495 per kilowatt hour (kWh).
“The ERC-approved 2019 FIT-All is lower by P0.1976 per kWh vis-í -vis TransCo’s proposed rate of P0.2471, and will reflect a P0.1731 per kWh reduction from the current (2018) FIT-All rate of P0.2226 per kWh,” Agnes Devanadera, ERC chairperson and chief executive officer, said in a statement.
“The ERC, in computing the 2019 FIT-All rates, made use of the actual generation billed and the actual cost recovery rate from January until August 2019, among others,’’ Devanadera added.
She said the 2019 FIT-All considered FIT-eligible plants with Certificate of Compliance for FIT and the forecasted run-of-river hydro and biomass plants last year.
“The approved 2019 FIT-All rate will be charged to all on-grid consumers supplied with electricity through the distribution or transmission network starting the immediately succeeding billing period following TransCo’s receipt of the ERC Decision. The 2019 FIT-All will result to a reduction in the existing FIT-All rate and will increase the consumers’ purchasing power,” Devanadera said.
Aside from priority dispatch in the spot market, power plants eligible for FIT are assured with fixed rates for their produced power.
The said benefits were introduced by the government in order to jumpstart the private sector’s interest to invest in renewable energy projects.
FIT-All is sourced from all electricity consumers to pay the premium of FIT-eligible power plants. The government is allowed to yearly evaluate the rate whether to increase or decrease it as needed.
Due to a high backlog of cases at the ERC, the 2019 FIT-All rates were only decided now.
The rates used since March last year were the approved rates for 2018. The approved rates are effective until the regulatory body updates them again.
