P.O. Box 1161, QCCPO, NCR, Philippines 1100
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Email : labankonsyumer@gmail.com
: dimagibavic@gmail.com
: dmagiba@pldtdsl.net
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Website : www.labankonsyumer.com
LKI 2020-002
PRESS STATEMENT
January 13, 2020
TRANSCO ORDERED BY ERC TO COMMENT ON LKI MOTION, CONSUMER GROUP CALLS FOR 2019 AND 2020 FIT-ALL RATE PETITIONS TO BE DISMISSED PROMPTLY
Consumer Group Laban Konsyumer Inc. (LKI) recently received a copy of the ERC Order to TransCo to comment within ten days regarding the group’s motiom to dismiss Fit-All rates.
In a recent public statement, LKI explained that Transco figures show FIT-All rate should actually be reduced by 2 centavos per kilowatt hour with Php 6.54 Billion collection surplus as of end of 2019).
LKI President Vic Dimagiba said “we are encouraged by this copy showing that ERC is instructing TransCo to immediately comment on our Motion. We are pleased to hear that ERC considered our motion to put a stop to the continued increased rates by TransCo’s imposition of Fit-All which in turn forces poor consumers to pay higher electricity rates.”
Dimagiba expressed delight by stating “we hope at LKI that this is another big milestone and major step to putting an end to the unfair Fit-All rate, which consumers should not be made to pay in the first place. Hopefully TransCo will see the light and ERC will enforce the proper and necessary regulations as soon as possible.”
For reference: Regarding Transco’s written submission to the ERC on the 2020 Fit-All, consumer group Laban Konsyumer Inc. (LKI) and its President Vic Dimagiba in their motion stated that “based on the manifestation we read and analyzed, the FIT-All should actually be reduced by two centavos per kilowatt hour. We believe that the 2019 and 2020 FIT-All petitions of Transco should be dismissed. This will greatly benefit Filipinos and relieve them of the burden of having to pay higher electricity rates because of Feed-In-Tariff Allowance.” Dimagiba had filed an Omnibus Urgent Motion to the ERC on its prayer.
Dimagiba continued by saying “it was an interesting pleading from Transco, where we realized afterwards that prices should be reduced. What we learned from seeing it now and going over the numbers is that there really is no need for 2019 FIT-Allowance. 2020 FIT-All, in fact, should go down by 2 centavos, as well. We feel that the FIT-All should decrease, as this is an unfair burden on consumers, forcing them to pay for highly priced renewable energy that they are not even sure they are using. The only parties benefitting from this FIT-All are the generation and power suppliers, at the expense of consumers.”
LKI stated “we seek for the new FIT-All rate considering that various factors at the time of the application have already been varied. Assuming all other factors/ variables are constant (as in the application, and if the ERC will decide not to increase the FIT-All rate to the level initially proposed by Transco (P0.2278/kWh) and maintain P0.2226/kWh, Transco will still be able to settle all its obligations with FIT-eligible RE Developers”.
Dimagiba explained “With the foregoing numbers that we saw, the updated 2020 FIT-All Rate should be reduced by P0.0295/kWh or will become P0.1983 from the FIT-All Rate application of Transco of P0.2278/kWh, assuming the current FIT-All rate of P0.2226/kWh will prevail until the end of the 2019 billing month.”
LKI highlighted “Transco made an update of the assumptions originally used in the application using additional four (4) months actual data for 2019. This yielded an estimated 2019 end-of-year FIT Differential (FD) over-recovery of P6.54 Billion or a reduction from the computed 2020 FD requirement of P0.0711/kWh by the end of December 2019 billing month. This is assuming the current FIT-All rate of P0.2276/kWh will prevail until the end of 2019 billing month. Judging from all these figures, we at LKI firmly believe that the costs that consumers pay for FIT-All should already go down by at least 2 centavos per kilowatt hour, while the FIT-All petition of 2020 would be best dismissed.”
Dimagiba in previous statements has said if ERC takes action and suspends the resolution of the pending applications, ERC will greatly benefit consumers and temper the effects of inflation by providing breathing space from increasing costs.
LKI will await TransCo’s comments on the motion, as ordered by ERC, and continues to aspire for swift action taken immediately by both regulator and Government.
For any inquiries or concerns, you may reach LKI President Vic Dimagiba at 0917-812-5546. Visit our updated website at www.labankonsyumer.com and like us on Facebook and Twitter. Send any inquiry to labankonsyumer@gmail.com