There will be a minimal decrease in Negros Electric Power Corp. (NEPC) electricity rates for September, despite a secondary price cap (SPC) ordered by the Energy Regulatory Commission in the Visayas and Mindanao spot market.
Negros Electric Power Corp. rates will be P14.2487 per kilowatt-hour in September, 3 centavos lower than last month, Engr. Joe-Mel S. Zaporteza, NEPC Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, announced at a press conference Tuesday afternoon, Sept. 22.
Last month’s rate was P14.2787 per kWh.
NEPC is just releasing its consumers’ bills for August 16 to Sept. 16 because it waited for the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines’ recomputed average price using the secondary cap price limitations, which it received on Monday, he said.
Without the price cap power rates would have been much higher, at P17.8337 per kWh Zaporteza said.
He noted that the secondary price cap only covers 23 percent of the NEPC power supply, which is purchased from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market.
Zaporteza pointed out that 75 percent comes from NEPC’s power supply agreements and 2 percent from net metering exports, which are not covered by the cap.
The SPC is triggered when the rolling average across the entire Philippine grid breaches a set threshold. Once activated, the SPC is computed and applied on a per-region basis using each grid’s own rolling average price, he said.
Zaporteza added that the increase in power rates in the spot market were triggered by supply shortages, which prompted the imposition of the price cap.*
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