By Rjay Zuriaga Castor
Residents in Iloilo City will only slightly feel the increase in electricity rates compared to other consumers in Western Visayas.
MORE Electric and Power Corp. (MORE Power), in a statement on Monday, announced that the P1.02 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) increase in electricity bills for May “remains the lowest in the region.”
MORE Power recently confirmed that the effective residential electricity rate reflected on its consumers’ bills from May 18 to June 12 is P11.3263/kWh.
While other electric cooperatives have experienced similar rate hikes, MORE Power explained that it has maintained competitive rates through its bilateral contracts with power generators.
This strategy has minimized its reliance on the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), where prices have surged from P8.67/kWh to P11.85/kWh.
“In anticipation of the increase in demand for the summer, we have secured bilateral contracts of 66 percent. Thus, our exposure to WESM is only 34 percent,” said Niel V. Parcon, Vice President for Corporate Energy Sourcing and Regulatory Affairs.
“In fact, our energy purchases for this billing cycle have increased by 19 percent,” he added.
The Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives Association, Inc. (PHILRECA) reported that residential electricity rates in Western Visayas for May experienced a substantial increase of 16.57 percent or around P2.21842/kWh compared to the previous billing month.
This increment translates to an additional cost of P218.42 for consumers with an average monthly consumption of 100 kWh.
Comparative data* for residential rates (kWh) across electric cooperatives and distribution utilities in the region for April to May is as follows:
– AKELCO: 13.5106 (April) — 14.9272 (May) = 1.4166 (increase)
– ANTECO: 13.4256 — 14.9711 = 1.5455
– CAPELCO: 13.7978 — 15.1347 = 1.3369
– CENECO: 11.9566 — 15.1632 = 3.2066
– GUIMELCO: 13.1979 – 14.4686 = 1.2707
– ILECO II: 13.5294 — 15.1943 = 1.6649
– ILECO III: 11.7947 — 15.3297 = 3.5347
– NOCECO: 13.7038 — 15.8607 = 2.1569
– NONECO: 14.5674 — 17.2669 = 2.6995
– MORE Power: 10.3062 — 11.3263 = 1.0201
PHILRECA explained that the significant difference in the April and May rates is mainly caused by the increase in the generation cost at the WESM.
*Data excludes ILECO I
(This article was updated to reflect the correct rares of Guimaras Electric Cooperative.)
