By Dolly Yasa
BACOLOD City – Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco) acting general manager Atty. Arnel Lapore said the average residential rate for the billing month of August 2023 is P11.3016 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), a Php 0.2917/kWh cut from last month’s Php 11.5933/kWh.
Lapore attributed the reduced rate to generation charges that decreased by 3.60% compared to the previous month due to a decrease in Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) price – from c7.7711/kWh to Php6.4982/kWh or a downward adjustment of Php1.2729/kWh.
Decreases in other pass-through charges such as ICCS Adjustment and Value Added Tax also lowered residential rates.
Lapore explained that the pass-through charges equivalent to P10.1150/kWh of the total power rate include the Generation and Transmission charges, Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC)-approved adjustments, government subsidies, and taxes.
“Only P1.1866/kWh of the power rate goes to Ceneco through the Distribution, Supply, Metering (DSM) Charges for its administrative and operational services, and Reinvestment Fund for Sustainable CAPEX (RFSC),” he pointed out.
Since 2010, Ceneco’s DSM and RFSC rates have not changed, Lapore further said.
He stressed that in monitoring the monthly electricity usage, consumers are advised to look at their kilowatt-hour consumption and not on the bill amount since it varies depending on the pass-through charges as shown above.
While the world market fuel prices remain volatile, hence adversely affecting electricity rates, the Ceneco Board and Management continue to remind its electricity consumers to conserve energy to avoid paying high electricity bills, Lapore said.
