Negros Electric and Power Corp. (Negros Power) consumers will face a power rate increase of P2.4609 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) this June, with an even steeper hike expected in July due to nationwide generation shortages further exacerbated by a recent magnitude 7.8 earthquake in Mindanao.
The adjustment will bring the June electricity rates for Central Negros consumers to P13.8417/kWh, up from P11.3808/kWh in May.
The new rate takes effect on Tuesday, June 16.
The figures were disclosed by Negros Power Assistant Vice President for Planning and Business Operations Leomel Tambanillo and Energy Sourcing Manager Christian John Villena during a press conference in Bacolod City on Monday, June 15.
For July, the Negros Power officials project an additional P3 to P4 per kWh increase from the P11.3808/kWh May baseline as the full impact of the Mindanao grid damages registers in consumer billing.
Villena said the elevated power rates could persist until the end of the year if affected power plants fail to restore full operations and supply deficits continue.
However, rates would drop once an adequate power supply is secured, he said.
Villena traced the current shortage to massive simultaneous generation failures across the national grid.
In the Visayas, the outage of three power plants caused a grid loss of 488 megawatts (MW). In Luzon, 19 power plants went offline while 12 others operated on derated (reduced) capacity, resulting in a combined grid loss of 1,728 MW, he said.
The power crisis worsened after the magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Mindanao.
Prior to the tremor, Mindanao was exporting roughly 400 MW to help stabilize the Visayas grid during Luzon’s outages. Following the earthquake, that inter-island power transmission dropped by an estimated 50 to 60 percent, Villena said.
The reduced supply allocation from Mindanao will be felt by Visayas consumers starting in their July billing cycles, Villena added.
In light of the recurring supply volatility, Tambanillo emphasized the urgent need to construct additional baseload power plants within the Visayas, especially in Negros Island Region, to ensure long-term grid reliability and power security.*
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