The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) issued on 28 October 2015 an Order under ERC Case No. 2014-109 RC (uploaded under the URL http://www.erc.gov.ph/Files/Render/issuance/6277)  granting provisional authority (PA) to the National Transmission Corporation (TRANSCO) to implement the Feed-in Tariff Allowance (FIT-All) rate of PhP0.0406/kWh effective in the January 2015 billing of all On-Grid electricity consumers.    The PA given to TRANSCO will allow it to perform its duties as a fund administrator and pay the Renewable Energy (RE) Developers on time their entitled FIT Rate thereby allowing continued production of RE electricity.   

The FIT-All is a uniform charge akin to the Universal Charge that is imposed on all On-Grid electricity consumers who are supplied with electricity through the distribution or transmission network. The FIT-All is essential to the implementation of the FIT System as established under Section 7 of Republic Act No. 9513, otherwise known as the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 (RE Law).    

The FIT-All shall be established and set by the ERC on an annual basis and takes into account the following cost items: a) the forecasted annual required revenue of the Eligible RE Plants; b) previous year’s over or under recoveries; c) administration costs; d) forecasted annual electricity sales; & e) such other relevant factors to ensure that no stakeholder is allocated with additional risks in the implementation of the FITs.

It may be recalled that on July 27, 2012, the ERC issued its Decision in ERC Case No. 2011-006 RM and Resolution No. 10, Series of 2012, entitled “Resolution Approving the Feed-in Tariff Rates” where there was approved 4 kinds of initial FIT Rates, to wit:  Wind technology at PhP8.53/kWh; Biomass at PhP6.63/kWh; Solar at PhP9.68/kWh; & Hydropower at 5.90/kWh.  On November 19, 2012, the ERC  issued Resolution No. 15, Series of 2012 designating TRANSCO as the FIT-All Fund Administrator tasked with the establishment, management, administration,  disbursement & settlement (through a government Trustee Bank) of the FIT-All Fund.

“The setting of the FIT Allowance signals the start of the implementation of the FIT System. We anticipate that with the FIT System in place, there will be more and more renewable energy companies investing and thus develop the renewable energy industry.   We all should view with optimism these changes brought about by the development, utilization and commercialization of RE technologies so that we can have a clean and energized future,” ERC Chairperson Zenaida G. Cruz-Ducut stated.