MORE Power maintains low Iloilo rates despite June increase

By Francis Allan L. Angelo

MORE Power said it maintained historically low, tax-inclusive electricity rates in June, even as its overall rate rose to PHP 13.91 per kilowatt-hour.

The June rate was up PHP 2.04 from May.

The distribution utility attributed the increase to higher generation and transmission costs rather than to its own charges.

MORE Power’s average distribution charge remained unchanged at PHP 1.85 per kilowatt-hour, a level it said has been stable for more than three years.

The utility’s generation rate rose by PHP 2.10 per kilowatt-hour in June, reaching PHP 7.735 per kilowatt-hour.

Prices in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) climbed from PHP 4.45 per kilowatt-hour to PHP 10.30 per kilowatt-hour.

Because of the spot market surge, MORE Power relied more heavily on bilateral suppliers in June.

The utility drew 62 percent of its supply from bilateral contracts and 38 percent from WESM.

To avoid bill shock, MORE Power postponed the staggered payment to suppliers for June.

The postponement is intended to prevent bills from overlapping in the coming months.

MORE Power said the increased electricity costs would go directly to power suppliers, with no added cost passed on by the distribution utility.

Rising generation and transmission costs have pushed up power rates across the country, with distribution utilities affected whenever the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) places the Visayas under yellow or red alert.

Manual load-shedding during those alerts, caused by supply shortfalls, has disrupted normal operations.

NGCP reported a supply shortage in the Visayas grid caused by outages at large coal-fired plants.

On July 10, NGCP said 15 plants experienced forced outages while 11 others operated at derated capacity, leaving about 1,031 megawatts unavailable.

Transmission constraints also limited the flow of power from Luzon through the Leyte-Cebu interconnection, reducing support for the Cebu-Negros-Panay grid.

MORE Power maintained that it did not contribute to the June increase in electricity prices.

The company said it posted the lowest tax-inclusive rates from January to May 2026, while many other distribution utilities publish tax-exclusive rates.

The company reiterated that all of its rates since it began operations in Iloilo have been tax-inclusive, ensuring no hidden charges on consumer bills.