• CHERYL G. CRUZ
The Northern Negros Electric Cooperative said June 21 that its average residential rate for this billing month decreased by P8.0367 per kilowatt-hour.
This means that Noneco member-consumers will be paying P9.3202 per kilowatt-hour of electricity consumed, compared to the P17.2669/kWh rate in May.
The substantial decrease was “due to the deferment of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) portion in the generation charge, in compliance with the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) order dated June 13,” Noneco said in its advisory.
This lower rate aims to ease the impact on consumers of high electricity bills caused by increasing spot market, or WESM, prices, it added.
The ERC earlier approved the staggered payment of WESM purchases by distribution utilities (DUs), like Noneco, for four months, starting bills payable this June.
“By proactively monitoring the generation costs of all power utilities, the ERC aims to mitigate the impact of the high generation rates, particularly for consumers of DUs with high WESM exposure amidst the recent heat waves in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, and a series of red and yellow alerts in the Luzon and Visayas grids,” the ERC said in a statement.
The Noneco rate decrease is the biggest among three DUs serving electricity consumers in Bacolod City and Negros Occidental.
The Negros Occidental Electric Cooperative (Noceco) earlier said that its average residential rate this billing month of June decreased by P3.1594/kWh, or to P14.8015/kWh from the P17.9609/kWh rate in May.
The Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco), on the other hand, said its average residential rate this month is P12.7632/kWh, or a decrease of P2.40/kWh, from last month’s rate of P15.1632/kWh. | CGC
