Napocor president Cyril del Callar made the pronouncement following reports that Napocor increased by P8 per kwh the cost of electricity they trade at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) during the billing cycle from March 26 to April 25.
But he said Napocor’s data would show that they never increased their rates by as much as P3 per kwh since they are being paid by independent power producers (IPPs) under contract with them under the time-of-use rate (TOU).
“We have a contract based on TOU and not based on WESM,” del Callar said.
Seasonal changes
Del Callar added that the rates they are charging the IPPs are the same rates approved in 2004 by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) because they could not immediately implement a rate increase without applying for authority from the ERC and conducting a public hearing.
Based on Napocor data, TOU rates go up to an average of P4.0753 per kwh from January to June in Luzon compared to P3.7241 per kwh from July to December or a seasonal difference of 35.12 centavos per kwh.
Mindanao, which relies heavily on hydro plants, has a seasonal price difference of 47.90 centavos per kwh to P2.4480 per kwh for January to June compared to P1.9690 per kwh for the latter months of the year.
Del Callar said electricity rates will go down further in the next few months should the ERC grant their pending petition for deferred accounting adjustment, under its Generation Rate Adjustment Mechanism and the Incremental Currency Exchange Rate Adjustment.
“The contracted customers have continuously enjoyed stable prices (through the TOU rates) that are ERC-approved and possibly the cheapest in the industry today,” he said. (Sunnex)
