MORE Power announces slight increase in the electricity rates in Iloilo City due to higher transmission charges of National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).
The distribution utility said that the increase of P0.06 per kilowatt-hour to be reflected in billing this March 2024 is due to additional P0.18 per kWh charge of NGCP from the cost of Ancillary Services.
The Ancillary Service (AS) Rates for this month have increased from the previous month following the full commercial operations of the Reserve Market on 26 January 2024.
A large increase in the AS cost was due to the Contingency Reserve, with an increase almost 4 times that of the previous month. Contingency Reserve are those power plants that is intended to take care of the loss of the largest synchronized generating unit in the grid.
The Visayas grid procures most of its Contingency Reserve Requirement from the Reserve Market. With the tight supply and the on-going maintenance of power plants in the Visayas grid, there is very thin supply offered in the Reserve Market jacking up prices for this month. Most of the participants in the reserve market are also coal suppliers and diesel plants from the Visayas grid.
Meanwhile, the generation charge decreased of P0.11 per kWH this month due to the reduction in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) average nodal prices.
On the part of MORE Power, the current effective electricity rate is P10.0216 kWh from P9.96/kWh last month.
Meanwhile, the Distribution, Supply, and Metering (DSM) charges go directly to MORE Power, as Iloilo City’s distribution utility remains the same.
