Spot market electricity pricier:  Public should expect higher power bill

CEBU, Philippines — Residential customers of Visayan Electric (VECO) will experience an increase of P0.86 per kilowatt hour (kWh) in their May-June electricity billing.

In a statement, the power utility company yesterday said the increase is due to high generation rates caused by price hikes in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) in April, brought about by power supply concerns in the Visayas Grid.

“As a result, the overall residential electricity rate will climb from P11.28/kWh last month to P12.14/kWh this month. For households with an average monthly consumption of 200 kWh, this translates to an additional expense of P172 on their upcoming bill,” VECO said.

Visayan Electric President and Chief Operating Officer Raul C. Lucero explained that the generation rates are pass-through charges that are paid to power generation companies through WESM.

Last April, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines issued several yellow and red alerts in both the Luzon and Visayas grids due to power supply issues.

NGCP had said several power plants were on forced outage or were experiencing “derated capacities” and that different areas in the Visayas experienced “unprecedented extreme heat that increased the demand for electricity”.

Once red alerts are issued due to power supply concerns, diesel power plants, which are more expensive to operate compared to coal power plants, would usually be asked to supply power to meet grid requirements, causing high power prices in WESM.

VECO said that to prevent such occurrences in the future, President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. has asked the Energy Regulatory Commission to suspend WESM once red alerts are issued to control power prices. This, however, will take effect only this month.

With this, Visayan Electric urged its consumers to be mindful of their power consumption.

“I strongly encourage our customers to intensify their power conservation efforts. Power conservation not only lessens our consumption but also helps us lessen the possibility of rotational brownouts in times when there are power supply issues,” Lucero said.

He said the by “practicing mindfulness in matters concerning electricity consumption also helps in anticipating electricity rate increases and prevents bill shock.”

VECO is the second largest electric utility in the Philippines. It serves the cities of Cebu, Mandaue, Talisay, and Naga and the municipalities of Liloan, Consolacion, Minglanilla and San Fernando. — (FREEMAN)