Higher Ancillary Services (AS) costs pushed up transmission rates in August 2025, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines announced Sept. 17.
The overall equivalent average transmission rate for the August 2025 billing period rose by 7.09 percent to P1.4171 per kilowatt hour (kWh), up from July’s P1.3233/kWh.
AS charges climbed by P0.0787/kWh, from P0.5872/kWh in July, to P0.6659/kWh in August, the NGCP said in a statement.
AS rates are pass-through costs for power supplied by AS providers during supply-demand imbalance, the NGCP added. “Charges are remitted directly to generating companies with bilateral contracts with NGCP, and to the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP) for AS sourced from the Reserve Market.”
The NGCP does not earn from AS and does not benefit from changes in AS prices, it stressed.
Meanwhile, NGCP’s transmission wheeling rate—or the fee for delivering power through its grid—barely changed, inching up by P0.0047/kWh, from P0.5923/kWh in July to P0.5970/kWh in August.
“For August 2025, NGCP charges only about P0.5970/kWh for its transmission service, while Ancillary Services remain the biggest component of transmission-related costs,” the grid operator added. ||
