LIKE Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco), the Negros Occidental Electric Cooperative (Noceco) also announced a slight reduction on its average residential rate this month.
Noceco's Corporate Planning (Corplan) Head Shiela Marie Algara-Heyrosa told Sunstar Bacolod that the decrease of P0.22 per kilowatt hour (kWh) was a result of the decrease in the utility's generation charge.
Its generation charge now costs P7.10 per kWh from P7.32 per kWh last month.
It was triggered by the low price of electricity from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (Wesm).
Algara-Heyrosa said another factor in the reduction of generation charge is the scheduled outage of Palm Concepcion Power Corp. (PCPC) in which the share of its power contracted by Noceco was replaced by Wesm.
She said that the generation and transmission rates are pass-on charges paid to the respective power suppliers and National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).
Algara-Heyrosa also said that the collected amounts on these charges are not retained by the firm that caters to electric consumers from Pulupandan to Hinoba-an.
The Noceco official added that their distribution, supply, and metering (DSM) charges remain unchanged since February 2010.
Earlier, Ceneco has announced that its average residential rate for the billing month of May 2022 is P11.1401 per kWh, a decrease of P0.2917 per kWh from last month’s rate of P11.4318 per kWh.
Ceneco, the largest power utility, supplies electricity to the cities of Bacolod, Bago, Talisay and Silay, and the towns of Don Salvador Benedicto and Murcia.
Meanwhile, the Northern Negros Electric Cooperative (Noneco) announced an increase of P0.15 on its residential rates for this month.
Noneco Corplan Information Technology and Energy Trading Manager Anthony Lagrada said the new rate is P13.85 per kWh.
This is higher than last month's rate of P13.70 per kWh.
He said the increase in the generation charge of their power suppliers triggered the hike.
Noneco caters to electric consumers in the northern portion of the province, from E.B. Magalona to San Carlos City.*