Power transmission rates rise in Jan, to be reflected in Feb bill

MANILA, February 13 ------ Power transmission charges across the Philippines rose in January and will be reflected in consumers’ February electricity bills, the country's power grid operator said. The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines said the overall average transmission rate increased by more than 13 percent to P1.5279 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) from P1.3544/kWh previously.

The increase was driven by regulator-approved under-recoveries and lower overall power consumption, which resulted in higher wheeling rates, NGCP revenue management head Ryan Datinggaling said. In addition to the under-recovery approved by the regulator, there was also lower power consumption, which led to a higher wheeling rate, Datinggaling said.

Transmission charges rose by P0.24/kWh in Luzon and P0.06/kWh in Mindanao, while consumers in the Visayas saw a slight reduction of less than one centavo per kWh. Meralco, the country’s largest power distributor, earlier said the higher transmission charge was the main driver of the increase in its February billing. Meanwhile, the NGCP said it is still studying whether to appeal a recent decision by the Energy Regulatory Commission allowing the grid operator to recover up to P375 billion in maximum allowable revenue for the 2023–2027 regulatory period. The amount is about 15 percent lower than the more than P440 billion sought by the NGCP.

NGCP spokesperson Cynthia Alabanza said the company was not yet ready to discuss the details of the decision or confirm whether it would file an appeal, but thanked the ERC for recognizing the need to balance infrastructure funding with consumer protection. In a related development, NGCP said it is set to complete seven major transmission projects this year worth over P17 billion, including the Tuguegarao–Lallo 230-kilovolt line, the Amlan–Dumaguete 138-kV line, and the Nabas–Caticlan–Boracay line.

Source: news.abs-cbn.com