Ceneco’s March residential rates down by P1.20/kWh

By Dolly Yasa

BACOLOD City – Central Negros Electric Cooperative, Inc. (Ceneco) acting general manager Atty. Arnel Lapore said on Friday that the average residential rate for the billing month of March 2023 is 𝗣𝟭𝟯.𝟲𝟳𝟭𝟲 per kilowatt-hour (𝗸𝗪𝗵), a decrease of P1.2040/kWh from last month’s P14.8756/kWh.

The P1.2040/kWh rate decrease is attributed to the following:

*Decrease in Palm Concepcion Power Corporation (PCPC) 20MW fuel cost from P7.87/kWh to P4.19/kWh or a downward adjustment of P3.68/kWh;

*Decrease in PCPC 35MW fuel cost from P9.9440/kWh to P9.6821/kWh or a downward adjustment of P0.2619/kWh; and

*PCPC extended a fuel discount of P1.05/kWh for the February 2023 billing for 35MW Power Supply Agreement.

Lapore said that the pass-through charges equivalent to P12.4850/kWh of the total power rate include the Generation and Transmission charges, ERC-approved adjustments, government subsidies and taxes.

Only P1.1866/kWh of the power rate goes to Ceneco through Distribution, Supply, and Metering (DSM) Charges for its administrative and operational services, and Reinvestment Fund for Sustainable CAPEX (RFSC), he added.

Since 2010, CENECO’s DSM and RFSC rate has not changed.

He also said that the Energy Regulatory Commission ( ERC)  through Resolution No. 02 series of 2023 resolved to approve and adopt the extension for the temporary suspension in the collection of the Feed-In-Tariff Allowance (FIT-ALL) for a period of six months, starting March  2023 until August 2023 billing months, unless lifted earlier by the Commission through a subsequent resolution.

In monitoring the monthly electricity usage, consumers are advised to look at their kilowatt-hour consumption and not at the bill amount since it varies depending on the pass-through charges as shown above, he said.

While the world market fuel prices remain volatile, hence adversely affecting electricity rates, CENECO Board and Management continue to remind its electricity consumers to conserve energy to avoid paying high electricity bills, he further said.

He said Ceneco consumers are also advised not to entertain persons who are posing as collectors and to deal with business directly at the Ceneco office.