Negros Electric and Power Corp. (Negros Power) announced on Monday, March 16 that its consumers will have a slight decrease in their March electricity bill.
The average residential electricity rate for March 2026 is P11.4107 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), reflecting a slight decrease of P0.0335 per kWh compared to the P11.4442 per kWh rate recorded in February, a statement from Negros Power said.
Despite the overall drop in the electricity rate, the distribution utility, however, said generation costs registered an increase due to higher prices from major power sources, citing the hike in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market price, that rose from P4.4872 per kWh to P5.4034 per kWh, an increase of P0.9162 per kWh.
Negros Power said the spike was triggered by a 17-day unplanned outage at Palm Concepcion Power Corp., which caused a power supply shortage in the Visayas Grid and pushed market prices higher, particularly during peak demand hours.
Meanwhile, the rate from Green Core Geothermal Inc. also increased from P6.1424 per kWh to P6.5265 per kWh, or P0.3851 per kWh higher.
The adjustment came after the expiration of a one-year temporary baseload discount previously granted by the supplier.
These increases resulted in an overall generation charge increase of P0.2015 per kWh.
Negros Power, however, said transmission-related charges helped offset the increase in generation costs.
The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines power delivery service charge increased from P282.5288 per kW to P305.5274 per kW, equivalent to a P22.9986 per kW hike.
On the other hand, ancillary service charges, which include reserve market costs, significantly declined from P667.35 per kW to P501.09 per kW, a decrease of P166.26 per kW.
Because of these adjustments, overall transmission charges decreased by an average of P0.2054 per kWh across all consumer classes.
Negros Power also said that it implemented the uniform implementing rules for the lifeline rate subsidy, which adds P0.01 per kWh in adjustments.
Overall, the reduction in transmission and other pass-through charges helped balance the higher generation costs, resulting in a slight decrease in electricity rates for March 2026, it added. ||
