Consumers to start paying renewable energy fees in Feb

THE FEED-IN-TARIFF (FIT) scheme that provides incentives to renewable energy (RE) development projects is set to be in motion from this month onwards.

The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has authorized the inclusion of the line item called FIT-Allowance or FIT-All in the billing of power consumers, executive director Francis Saturnino Juan said via text message.
The Department of Energy has so far endorsed 14 RE projects to regulators for accreditation for fixed generation rates which will be paid by power consumers through a fund consisting of FIT-All collections by distribution utilities such as Meralco.  The fund will be managed by National Transmission Corp. or Transco.

FIT-All will be reflected as a line item in billing statements that will reach consumers starting February  2015, said Ernesto B. Pantangco, chair of  the National Renewable Energy Board (a recommending body on RE policies and action plans).

Meralco spokesperson Joe Zaldarriaga confirmed this, adding that the initial fixed rate was P0.0406 per kilowatt-hour. This may change yearly and is seen to get cheaper as RE projects become more viable with the anticipated increase in the cost of conventional energy such as coal and diesel.

Endorsed for FIT were 5 biomass, 3 hydro, 2 solar and 4 wind projects with a total capacity of 304.051MW.

The FIT system guarantees all eligible renewable energy plants entitlement to applicable rates for a 20-year period. The approved tariff rates are P5.90 per kilowatt-hour for run-of-river hydro; P6.63 per kWh for biomass; P8.53 per kWh for wind, and P9.68 per kWh for solar.