FOLLOWING the announcement of power rate decreases for October by two other electric cooperatives in the province, the Negros Occidental Electric Cooperative (Noceco) also announced a decrease of over P3 per kilowatt hour (kWh) this month.

Noceco caters to the cities and towns in the south, from Pulupandan to Hinoba-an.

In an advisory sent to SunStar Bacolod on Monday, October 25, the residential rate at the areas serviced by Noceco slid to P10.23 per kWh from P14.13 per kWh last month.

The reduction in the electricity rate for October is attributed to the low generation charges, the firm said.

The lower generation charge is due to the price reduction of P6.80 per kWh at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (Wesm) following the suspension of the collection of congestion and other related charges as ordered by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).

The congestion charges are caused by the limitation of National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP)’s transmission line capacity between Negros and Cebu due to the damage caused to its high voltage submarine line connecting the islands.

Other factors for the decrease of Noceco’s residential rate were the price drop in the Power Supply Agreement (PSA) from Palm Concepcion Power Corporation, value added tax (VAT) on generation and systems loss, and subsidy rates.

Meanwhile, the transmission rate for residential customers, VAT on transmission of residential customers, and the PSA from the KepcoSalcon Power Corp. (KSPC) increased this month.

Noceco said its distribution, supply, and metering charges remain unchanged regardless of the decrease in the overall electricity rate for this month.

Earlier, the Northern Negros Electric Cooperative (Noneco) said its power rate for October is P11.1328 per kWh.

The figure is P2.8376 per kWh lower than P13.9704 per kWh last month.

It caters to the areas in the north, from E.B. Magalona to San Carlos City.

For Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco), which caters to largest number of electric consumers in the province, including cities of Bacolod, Bago, Talisay and Silay, and towns of Murcia and Salvador Benedicto, its residential rate was also lower by P2.0814 or 16.97 percent compared to P12.2602 per kWh in September.