INCREASING fuel cost has triggered another wave of power rate hike in Negros Occidental this month as announced by the three electric cooperatives over the weekend thus, consumers in the province may incur higher bills.
Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco), the largest power distribution utility in the province, announced that its average residential rate for April this year went up to P11.4318 per kilowatt hour (kWh) from P10.9210 per kWh last month, or an increase of P0.51 per kWh.
Ceneco supplies power to the cities of Bacolod, Talisay, Silay and Bago, and towns of Murcia and Don Salvador.
It explained that aside from the high price of fuel the increase in power rates is likewise caused by the hike in generation, transmission and systems loss charges caused by the surge in Palm Concepcion Power Corp. (PCPC) fuel rate, increase in Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (Wesm) price and purchase, and other pass-through charges such as lifeline and senior citizen subsidies.
Partly, the generation rate adjustment mechanism and the incremental currency exchange rate adjustments as well as value added tax (VAT) were also among the reasons for the power rate increase.
Ceneco's Member-Consumer Integrated Services Division (MCISD) Chief Unice Pasaylo-Castillon said they earlier issued an advisory about the rate increase so that consumers would be able to prepare.
Castillon said that PCPC is providing Ceneco its baseload but it recently had maintenance works which caused its emergency shutdown forcing Ceneco to get power from the spot market.
Wesm gets its electricity supply from diesel-powered plants, she said.
Like Ceneco, the residential rate of Negros Occidental Electric Cooperative (Noceco) also increased by P0.44 per kWh this month, its Corporate Planning (Corplan) head Shiela Marie Algara-Heyrosa told Sunstar Bacolod.
With this, residential rate of Noceco is now at P7.32 per kWh from P6.88 per kWh last month, Algara-Heyrosa said, adding that the power plants that have power supply agreement with the distribution utility also increased their prices due to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
The ongoing crisis of the two eastern European countries is causing a significant and steady increase in the price of fuel and coal costs in the world market, she said.
This was the reason for the Panay Energy Development Corporation (PEDC), one of Noceco’s power suppliers, in proposing for re-pricing in which the effect would significantly increase from the initially agreed P5.15 per kWh cost of power, she also said.
The Noceco official further noted that as the change would further increase the cost of the blended rates, the firm opted to terminate the emergency power supply agreement it has with PEDC and is now in the process of procuring power at a lesser price from another supplier.
The utility is supplying electricity from Pulupandan to Hinoba-an in southern Negros Occidental.
For Northern Negros Electric Cooperative (Noneco), its Corplan Information Technology and Energy Trading Managert, Anthony Lagrada, aid they are yet to compute the power rates for the month.
But, he said there will be an increase of about P0.50 per kWh.
Noceco’s residential rate was at P13.26 per kWh last month.
It caters to electric consumers in the north, from E.B. Magalona to San Carlos City.*