Negocc coops increase February power rates

ELECTRIC consumers in Negros Occidental may incur higher bills this month as power distribution utilities in the province announced an increase in their rate.

The Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco), catering to the largest number of consumers in the province, from cities of Bacolod, Bago, Talisay and Silay, and towns of Murcia and Salvador Benedicto, reported an increase of P0.14 per kilowatt hour (kwh).

From last month’s rate of P11.3527 per kwh, it went up to P11.4991 per kwh in February.

Ceneco, in an advisory, said the increase is attrib- uted to adjustments in passthrough charges including the generation, transmission, Energy Regulatory Commission (Erc)-approved adjustments, government subsidies and taxes.

Pass-through charges comprised 89.68 percent of the entire rate, while the remaining 10.32 percent accounts for the cooperative’s distribution, supply, metering and reinvestment fund for sustainable capital expenditures.

The Negros Occidental Electric Cooperative (Noceco), catering to electric consumers in the south, from Pulupandan to Hinobaan, announced an increase of P0.16 per kwh.

The cooperative’s current rate is P10.5912 per kwh, higher than January’s P10.4275 per kwh.

Jonas Discaya, general manager of Noceco, said the main driver of higher electricity rate this month is the P0.5118 per kwh increase in the generation charge, which moved from P5.1655 to P5.6773 per kwh.

It is resulted from the higher energy charge of Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) from which Noceco obtains portion of its power supply, he added.

Noceco, however, noted a decrease of P0.0218 per kwh and P0.0175 per kwh in the transmission and systems loss charges, respectively.

The subsidy rates and value-added tax rates also registered a total reduction of P0.1150 per kwh.

Another factor that cushioned the impact of the overall rate increase is the removal of the P0.1938 per kwh Universal Charge – Stranded Contract Cost (UCSCC), the cooperative said.

The Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM) has advised to stop the charging of UC-SCC, it added.

Like Ceneco, the distribution, supply and metering charges of Noceco remain unchanged.

For the remaining cities and towns in the province, the Northern Negros Electric Cooperative (Noneco) is also projecting an increase in its power rate for this month.

Paulino Almedelia, corporate planning head of Noneco, said the cooperative might have an increase of about P0.39 per kwh.

This can be attributed to the increase in WESM price due to the maintenance of one power plant in the Visayas, he added.*