Consumer group seeks TRO vs feed-in tariff

MANILA, Philippines - Another application for a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the feed-in tariff allowance (FIT-All) has been filed at the Supreme Court to stop the implementation of the scheme.

Consumer advocacy group CitizenWatch has sought a TRO with the Supreme Court on the implementation of the FIT-All which mandates an additional P0.0406 per kilowatt-hour charge on power consumers as a form of incentive.

It will be charged to all electricity consumers, similar to a universal charge which is a separate line in electricity bills and is used to pay off the debts of the National Power Corp. (Napocor), the state-owned power company.

Meralco has started charging the FIT-All last month.

The FIT-All will be given to renewable energy players as an incentive to invest in the more expensive but less lucrative renewable energy (RE) sector.  Renewable energy players consist of solar, wind, biomass and small hydropower companies.

Tim Abejo, CitizenWatch co-convenor, said the group is not against the use of renewable energy.

“What we are questioning is the manner in which FIT-All is being collected and how the money will be spent,” he said.

He said the current set-up of the collection scheme is equivalent to collecting money without a purpose.

This makes it unconstitutional,” he said.

This characteristic makes it similar to the Priority Development Assistant Fund or PDAF, which the Supreme Court has declared unconstitutional, Abejo said.

“This is very dangerous, because it gives the collecting agency a free hand on how to spend the money without prior guidelines on where and how the money shall be disbursed,” he added.

The FIT-All also remains the subject of a case filed at the Supreme Court by lawyer Remigio Michael Ancheta who said the new line item is unconstitutional.