GUIMELCO’s power rate spikes due to high generation cost

Power rates of Guimaras Electric Cooperative (GUIMELCO) increased for the month of April 2020 due to higher generation cost brought about by high cost of electricity in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market.

In a distribution utility’s effective rate, the generation rate takes up to 50% of the total bills paid by consumers, thus, a slight increase in the power supply will greatly affect its over-all power rate.

The increase in rate is as follows:

GUIMELCO General Manager Shirley S. Laurente emphasized that this increase is beyond the control of GUIMELCO as the generation sector might have been severely affected by the COVID-19 crisis and another factor is the increase in demand of electricity as the hot season approaches.

 

EXTENSION

Meanwhile, GUIMELCO further extended the bills payments of Member-Consumer-Owners (MCOs) for the month of April 2020 and have launched the Pantawid Liwanag Program as financial relief to the marginalized sector in the province.

The move is also in support of the Bayanihan Heal as One Act of the government.

In a public advisory, GUIMELCO General Manager Shirley S. Laurente said that “to ensure that MCOs will be able to prioritize their health needs during these challenging times, our April 2020 due dates are hereby extended without penalty.”

The extension will be as follows:

MCOs are still encouraged to pay their bills before their due dates to avoid the crowd.

Also, all consumers who has not paid their bills yet for the month of March 2020 may pay their bills up to May 8, 2020 without penalty and interest.

Meanwhile, payments are still accepted at GUIMELCO Offices from 8:00AM – 1:00PM Monday – Friday and payment centers such as Palawan Pawnshop and RD Pawnshop nationwide (depending on their business hours).

To also help GUIMELCO consumers who are affected by the COVID-19 and cannot pay their bills in full, they may pay their bills in staggered scheme payment.

“Those who wants to pay their bills in staggered scheme may apply directly at GUIMELCO Offices,” GM Laurente added.

For those who wish to apply for the staggered scheme may download the application online, fill-in all the required information, sign it and send it to GUIMELCO Official Email address for approval.

 

PANTAWID LIWANAG PROGRAM

In a separate advisory, Laurente implemented the Pantawid Liwanag Program which provides financial relief to its residential lifeline consumers whose consumptions do not exceed 25kWh.

The Pantawid Liwanag Program is an initiative of the GUIMELCO in partnership with the Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives Association, Inc. (PHILRECA), One EC Network Foundation, Inc., and the Association of Philippine Electric Cooperatives (APEC).

“The budget for this program comes from our cancelled institutional activities for this year and is only enough to cover our lifeline residential consumers,” Laurente said.