Consumers to shoulder new electricity item starting Jan. 2026

Electricity consumers will see a new item in their bills beginning January 2026 as the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) approved the collection of payments for the recovery and sustainability of investments by renewable energy (RE) developers.

At a press briefing in Pasig City on Friday, ERC Chairperson and CEO Francis Saturnino Juan announced that the power industry regulator gave the thumbs up for the National Transmission Corp.'s (TransCo) to collect a Green Energy Auction Allowance (GEA-All).

The GEA-All charge was set at P0.0371 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), to be seen as a separate line item in consumer's monthly bill effective January 2026.

The RE developers covered by the collection are those who secured contracts under the government's Green Energy Auction Program (GEAP).

The GEA-All will be collected by distribution utilities (DUs) from its captive customers, by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) from its directly-connected customers, and by the retail electricity suppliers from its contestable customers. 

With this, Juan said the ERC is directing all power industry players including DUs, Retail Electricity Suppliers (RES), the NGCP, and the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP) to make available all records needed for an immediate GEA-All audit.

The ERC also ordered all collection agents to remit GEA-All proceeds in full to the GEA-All Fund not later than the 15th day of the month following each billing period.

GEA-All is an amount to be charged to all on-grid end-users to fund the differential amount needed to fully pay all GEA eligible plants. 

The ERC chief said GEA-all collections shall be remitted to TransCo as the FIT-All Fund Administrator of the GEA-Fund.

The ERC ordered collection agents to reflect GEA-All as a separate line item in consumer bills pursuant to Section 6.2.1.1 of ERC Resolution 6, Series of 2025 or the GEA-All Guidelines. — VDV, GMA Integrated News