ERC to subject Draft Feed-In Tariff Rules for Public Consultations
The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) approved on 10 March 2010 the posting of the draft Feed-In Tariff (FIT) Rules on its website (www.erc.gov.ph) and the conduct of public consultations to solicit comments from the electric power industry stakeholders. The deadline for submission of comments is set on 31 March 2010 (Wednesday) and the public consultation will be conducted on 14 April 2010 (Wednesday) at 9:00 a.m. at the ERC hearing Room, 15th Floor, Pacific Center, San Miguel Avenue Pasig City.
Following Section 7 of R.A. 9513 and Section 5 of its IRR, the ERC, in consultation with industry participants, drafted the Feed-In Tariff (FIT) Rules, which are intended to provide the regulatory framework for the implementation of the FIT mechanism in the country to promote and encourage the deployment of energy from Renewable Energy (RE) sources such as solar, wind, ocean, run-of-river hydroelectric power, biomass and RE components of hybrid systems.
The draft FIT Rules provide that technology-specific FITs or different FITs for solar, wind, and other RE sources shall be approved by the ERC based on the petition of the NREB. The FITs are the guaranteed price at which the RE developers will be paid for the energy that they will produce and inject to the transmission or distribution system for use by the electricity end-users. The FITs will be set by the ERC upon petition by the NREB and, initially, they will have a duration of fifteen (15) years and be subject to a degression rate to be determined by the ERC.
The FITs will be paid by electricity consumers connected to the transmission or distribution networks through a uniform PhP/kWh charge to be known as the FIT Allowance (FIT-All), the implementation of which is similar to that of the present Universal Charge. This FIT-All in turn will be established and set by the ERC on an annual basis upon petition by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), which is tasked with the settlement and payment of the FITs for the Eligible RE Plants
“The ERC is working double time to put in place the regulatory framework for the successful implementation of the FIT system. With this in place, we hope to hasten the development of renewable energy resources, address the long-term electricity requirements of the country, and help preserve Mother Earth,” Chairperson Zenaida G. Cruz-Ducut said.
Notice Annex "A"
FIT Rules Annex "A"
March 11, 2010