• CHERYL G. CRUZ
Residents of Bacolod City, as well as Bago, Talisay, Silay, Murcia, and Don Salvador Benedicto will be paying P11.0674 per kilowatt-hour of electricity consumed this billing month of October, or about 60 centavos less than what they’ve paid in September.
The Central Negros Electric Cooperative said the decrease in the average residential electricity rate for October was mainly due to the reduction in the generation charge, especially with a “significant drop” in the price of electricity traded in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM).
The comparison schedule of rates made public by Ceneco Oct. 18 did not show the exact WESM pricing, although the pass-through charges, like generation and transmission, and system loss, decreased by P0.5895/kWh.
VAT charges also decreased by P0.0316/kWh.
Atty. Arnel Lapore, Ceneco acting general manager, said the pass-through charges, equivalent to P9.8808/kWh of the total electricity rate, include the generation and transmission charges, ERC-approved adjustments, government subsidies, and taxes.
“Only P1.1866/kWh of the electricity rate goes to Ceneco, through the Distribution, Supply, Metering (DSM) charges and Reinvestment Fund for Sustainable CAPEX (RFSC), for its administrative and operational services,” Lapore said, adding that since 2010, the DSM and RFSC rate remained unchanged.
Consumers are reminded to conserve energy to avoid paying high electricity bills, he added. | CGC
