Power transmission costs down this month – NGCP

MANILA, Philippines —Transmission charges for this month’s power bill will be slightly lower due to reduced ancillary service (AS) costs, according to the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines.

NGCP business and regulatory development chief Julius Ryan Datingaling  yesterday sid the overall rate for the November supply period was P1.1966 per kilowatt hour, which is lower by 7.44 percent from the P1.2928 per kWh recorded in the October supply period.

Transmission costs refer to charges imposed on consumers for the transport of electricity from power generation facilities to distribution systems.

Datingaling attributed the decline in transmission charges to AS rates, which declined by 12.84 percent, or to P0.5699 per kWh in November from the previous month’s P0.6539 per kWh.

Also contributing to the drop in the overall rate was the slight decrease in transmission wheeling rates, or what the NGCP charges for its primary service of delivering power.

Datingaling said the NGCP’s wheeling rates went down by 0.96 percent, or to P0.4957 per kWh in November from P0.5005 per kWh on a monthly basis.

NGCP spokesperson Cynthia Alabanza said that transmission charges only account for three percent of consumers’ monthly electricity bills, with generation costs making up a majority of the total power rates charged by distribution utilities.

Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), which serves eight million consumers in Metro Manila and nearby provinces, earlier announced that its power rates would increase by P0.1048 per kWh this month.

The adjustment, which marked the second consecutive increase, translates to an additional P21 in the power bills of typical households consuming 200 kWh a month.

Meralco said the increase was due to the generation charge, which went up by about P0.18 per kWh.

The generation charge covers the cost of power purchased from independent power producers, the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market and power supply agreements.