Consumer group seeks gov’t approval of higher feed-in-tariff allowance

By Victor V. Saulon, Sub-Editor
A CONSUMER group that has asked the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to reconsider its decision to approve the increase in the feed-in tariff allowance (Fit-All) for 2017 has followed up that petition amid the suspension of the agency’s four commissioners.
“I truly hope that Malacañang will act on Fit-All swiftly. Otherwise, Fit-All will continue to be a burden on consumers. Despite the suspensions of the ERC officials, we are still calling on government to act on this and relieve consumers of higher rates caused by Fit-All,” said Victorio A. Dimagiba, who heads Laban Konsyumer Inc. (LKI).
“It is not the fault of consumers that these ERC officials were suspended. Why then do we have to bear the brunt of this delay and indecision by government on the issue of Fit-All and pay higher rates every month?,” he added.
The group said the feed-in tariff allowance is a burden on consumers and that the suspensions of the ERC officials had put “further roadblocks on the consumer group’s petitions to annul unjustified Fit-All approved by the ERC, which have been filed in the past two years, both in 2016 and 2017.”
The group said delayed action on Fit-All would force consumers to continue to carry the burden of higher power rates brought about by the feed-in tariff scheme.
Mr. Dimagiba, a former undersecretary of the Department of Trade and Industry, said “we truly hope that there will be action already on the issue on Fit-All, which is actually a more pressing concern. LKI stands with what is best for consumers, and we hope we do not lose focus on an equally, or even more, pressing matter which is Fit-All.”
Last month, the ERC authorized the collection of a Fit-All equivalent to P0.2563 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) starting in June, or an increase of P0.0733 per kWh from the current P0.1830 per kWh. The new rate covers the Fit-All for 2017.
Calculated annually, the Fit-All is a uniform charge that is applied to the kilowatt-hours billed to consumers who are supplied with electricity through the country’s distribution or transmission network.
Earlier this month, LKI asked the ERC to reconsider its decision to grant the collection of the higher Fit-All.
It said the decision was “null and void and without legal effect as it violates the basic and cardinal principle of the first rights guaranteed in our Bill of Rights of the 1987 Constitution (Sec. 1, Article III), which mandates that: ‘No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law, nor shall any person be denied the equal protection of the law.’”