‘RATE HIKE CAUSE’: Negros Power spreads WESM cost hike over six months

By Francis Allan L. Angelo

Negros Electric and Power Corporation (Negros Power) said the average residential electricity rate in its Central Negros franchise area rose to PHP 14.1287 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in July 2026.

The new rate is PHP 0.2870/kWh higher than June’s PHP 13.8417/kWh.

Negros Power attributed the increase mainly to higher power supply costs in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM).

Prices in the WESM — the trading platform where distribution utilities source the electricity not covered by their long-term supply contracts — climbed on stronger demand and the limited availability of several power plants.

Those conditions triggered Yellow and Red Alerts in the Luzon and Visayas grids, pushing generation costs higher.

Grid operators raise a Yellow Alert when power reserves run thin and a Red Alert when supply falls short of demand, the point at which rotating outages become possible.

To soften the impact, Negros Power said it applied a staggered recovery of WESM costs.

Rather than charging the full increase in a single billing cycle, the company will spread the remaining balance over the next six months.

That approach held the July increase in the generation charge to PHP 0.20/kWh.

For July 2026, Negros Power reported the following average rates across its customer classes:

Customer class	July 2026 rate	Increase vs. June
Residential	PHP 14.1287/kWh	PHP 0.2870/kWh
Low voltage	PHP 14.0494/kWh	PHP 0.3025/kWh
High voltage	PHP 13.1864/kWh	PHP 0.3170/kWh

The company said the staggered scheme was adopted specifically to cushion consumers and avoid a much larger increase in this month’s bills.

Negros Power began operations in August 2024 after taking over the franchise of the Central Negros Electric Cooperative (CENECO).

It operates as a joint venture between Enrique Razon Jr.’s Primelectric Holdings and CENECO — the same group behind MORE Electric and Power Corp. in Iloilo City — serving more than 220,000 accounts across Bacolod, Bago, Talisay and Silay cities and the towns of Murcia and Don Salvador Benedicto.

The July adjustment lands amid recurring supply tightness on the national grid, which has repeatedly forced alerts during high-demand months and points to spot-market volatility, rather than local distribution, as the main mover behind consumers’ bills.

Negros Power said it remains committed to reliable service and to keeping consumers informed about the factors behind monthly rates.

The company also urged customers to keep practicing energy-efficient habits to manage consumption and lower their bills.