Electricity rates surge amid supply crunch

Electricity rates for MORE Power, Iloilo City’s electricity distributor, have increased by P1.02/kWh for May 2024.

The effective residential electricity rate, reflected on bills from May 18, 2024, to June 12, 2024, is P11.3263/kWh.

While the transmission charge cost decreased, this reduction was offset by the rise in the average nodal prices of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), which went from P8.67/kWh to P11.85/kWh.

These changes come amidst the thin supply situation highlighted by the “red” and “yellow” alerts declared by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) in Luzon and Visayas over the last two months.

This increase in the generation charge also led to higher taxes and system loss rates, although the 12-month average system loss slightly decreased from 5.50% to 5.44% compared to the previous month.

There were no adjustments implemented in the Distribution, System, and Metering (DSM) charges, which remain the only bill component that goes to MORE Power.