ELECTRICITY CONSUMERS may face higher power costs, because the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has yet to determine whether to increase the suspension of the green energy auction allowance (GEA-All) collection.
Sharon O. Montañer, ERC’s director for market operations service, said the extension of the suspension will rely upon the status of the GEA-All fund.
“So next month, we’re going to evaluate again if there are (enough) funds. If we see that there’s still difficulty within the payment of the bills, or electricity rates are quite high compared with previous months, and if there may be sufficient balance within the fund to suspend, we are able to extend the suspension,” she told reporters on the sidelines of the BusinessWorld Economic Forum on May 18.
Earlier this month, the ERC ordered to temporarily halt the gathering of GEA-All from May to June to ease the financial burden on consumers amid rising inflation and global economic pressures.
GEA-All is a uniform charge amounting to P0.0371 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) that’s passed on to on-grid consumers. It’s a separate line item within the bills of consumers that began in January 2026.
The quantity collected is used to fund the incentives of latest renewable energy (RE) projects being awarded under the green energy auction program (GEAP).
As of May 5, GEA-All Fund maintains a balance of roughly P466.49 million, which is sufficient to cover the projected payment requirements of eligible RE developers in the course of the suspension period, in line with the ERC.
“If the crisis extends again, then, definitely, the commission will look into that (extension of the suspension) because it has all the time been one among the tools to alleviate customers,” Ms. Montañer said.
Meanwhile, Ms. Montañer said the ERC isn’t seeking to suspend the feed-in tariff allowance (FIT-All). She noted there are not any excess funds because the funds are just enough to cover payments to RE developers.
“There’s no sufficient buffer for FIT-All. It’s just enough to pay for the RE developers,” she said.
FIT-All is one other RE charge amounting to P0.2011 per kWh that’s separate from GEA-All which is being paid by consumers to support emerging RE technologies.
Nic Satur, Jr., chief advocate officer of consumer group Partners for Inexpensive and Reliable Energy, argued that GEA-All ought to be permanently removed, as consumers have been shouldering expensive power rates.
“I imagine that GEA-All has no legal basis and it shouldn’t be collected from consumers,” Mr. Satur told BusinessWorld. “We support our move towards clean energy but not on the expense of consumers.”
Mr. Satur said that buyers have suffered “long hours of brownout, expensive electricity rate and poor service” but are constantly burdened by pass-through charges, including GEA-All and FIT-All.
The crisis within the Middle East has pushed global oil prices higher, increasing power generation costs within the Philippines and driving up electricity rates.
To offer relief to consumers, the regulator directed distribution utilities to suspend electricity service disconnections and to implement staggered or deferred payment schemes.
The suspension covers unpaid electricity bills for each residential and nonresidential consumers covering the May-to-July billing periods.
Customers with a monthly consumption not exceeding 200 kWh may defer payment of their bills and settle them on a staggered basis over three months from receipt of the bill. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera