Brace for bigger electric bills this month.
The Central Negros Electric Cooperative on Wednesday, April 17, announced a P1.7287 per kilowatt-hour increase in its electric bills, while the Negros Occidental Electric Cooperative in southern Negros Occidental will hike its rates by P3.4742/kWh this month.
NOCECO, in a press statement, said its electricity rate this month is now P14.6309/kWh, or P3.4742 higher than March which was at P11.1567/kWh.
It attributed the increase to the total generation charge which increased by P2.9974/kWh compared to last month.
The main factor in the increase in generation charge is the P4.5019/kWh increase in the energy cost from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market from its previous power cost of P5.8601/kWh, NOCECO said.
However, NOCECO said it was able to secure an Emergency Power Supply Agreement with GNPower Kauswagan (GNPK) to cover the deficit.
“We are also expecting the power from KSPC to start delivering soon, pending approval from the Energy Regulatory Commission”, NOCECO also said.
Meanwhile, CENECO said its electricity rate this month is at P11.9566/kWh from last month’s P10.2279/kWh, or an increase of P1.7287/kWh.
The increase in CENECO’s rate was attributed to the increase in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) price by P2.5264/kWh, from P5.5616/kWh to P8.0879kWh.
CENECO said that the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (PSALM) issued an advisory on the reduction in the Universal Charge Missionary Electrification (UC-ME) charge of P0.0239/kWh with the new UC-ME rate now at P0.2238/kWh.
The Northern Negros Electric Cooperative has yet to announce its electricity rates for April.
NOCECO and CENECO also reminded their consumers to conserve energy to avoid high electricity bills.
“Given the high heat index registered recently, we expect a significant increase in electricity consumption for cooling purposes”, NOCECO said.
This surge in demand will likely translate to higher energy prices in the spot market, following the fundamental economic principle of supply and demand, it said.*