MORE Power July rate up PHP 0.43 on generation costs

By Francis Allan L. Angelo

ILOILO CITY – MORE Power has increased its electricity rate by PHP 0.43 per kilowatt-hour for the July billing period, inclusive of all taxes, because of higher costs of purchased power and not because of any change in its own distribution rates.

The increase is tied to a PHP 0.33 rise in the generation charge, the cost of electricity that MORE Power buys from generators and from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), while the distribution charge of the utility registered no change at all.

The residential rate now stands at PHP 14.34 per kWh, up from PHP 13.91 per kWh the previous month.

The commercial rate rose to PHP 13.48 per kWh from PHP 13.04 per kWh.

WESM prices continued to rise on the back of a persistent supply shortage and transmission constraints in the Visayas Grid.

The average WESM nodal price climbed to PHP 14.67 per kWh from PHP 10.36 per kWh.

To mitigate the impact on consumers, MORE Power requested to recover the incremental WESM costs over the next six months, deferring the equivalent of up to PHP 0.90 per kWh in the generation rate.

While the distribution utility applied a staggered recovery of WESM purchases to keep the generation rate at about the same level as the previous month, the automatic Over/Under Recovery Adjustment under Energy Regulatory Commission Resolution No. 10, Series of 2022 added PHP 0.2595 per kWh.

The transmission rate increased slightly to PHP 1.5227 per kWh because of a reduction in billing determinant energy and an automatic Over/Under adjustment of PHP 0.03203 per kWh.

Bilateral contracts remained stable despite a slight increase in coal-based generation costs, supplying 67 percent of the energy requirement and cushioning the impact of higher WESM prices, while the remaining 33 percent was sourced from the spot market.

Ralph Dorilag, manager of the Energy Sourcing Department of MORE Power, explained the adjustment on the fourth episode of the ninth season of the program MORE Power @ Ur Service.

Dorilag said the utility implemented 80 percent of the deferred amount for the current month and distributed the remaining 20 percent across succeeding billing periods.

Based on the company simulation, he said, the rate would have exceeded PHP 15 per kWh without the deferment, making the arrangement worth almost PHP 1 per kWh to consumers.

He added that a purely WESM-sourced supply would have placed the generation rate alone at PHP 15 per kWh and the total rate at about PHP 19 per kWh.

Dorilag noted that market participants may nominate prices of up to PHP 32 per kWh at peak, and that actual prices have reached that level during certain hours.

He said the Department of Energy had announced that the Philippines recorded the most expensive electricity in Southeast Asia for the month of June.

On supply, Dorilag said the return of PEDC Unit 3 to the grid has improved conditions in Panay, although the largest power plant in the Visayas has yet to resume operations.

He assured consumers that the charges added by MORE Power have not changed since 2022, and that the company derives no earnings from the increase.

“So for the month of August, it will be slightly lower than July,” Dorilag said, describing July as the period that absorbed the full brunt of the shortage.

He said clear and timely rate information matters to commercial customers in particular. “Especially yung mga businesses, they have to manage also their operating costs,” he said.

Officers and engineers of MORE Power continue to closely monitor electricity prices to secure the cheapest available supply for consumers in the city and province of Iloilo.