• CHERYL G. CRUZ
Member-consumers of the Negros Oriental I Electric Cooperative are paying P13.8539 per kilowatt-hour of electricity consumed this billing month of August, or down by P2.1454/kWh from the P15.9993/kWh rate in July.
The decrease was due to the lower generation charge from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), the Noreco I said in an advisory to member-consumer-owners (MCOs) in the cities of Bais, Canlaon, and Guihulngan, and the towns of Mabinay, Manjuyod, Bindoy, Ayungon, Tayasan, Jimalalud, La Libertad, and Vallehermoso, all in Negros Oriental.
But MCOs of the Negros Oriental II Electric Cooperative will pay P12.7195/kWh, from P12.0998 last month, or an increase of P0.6197/kWh.
“The increase in the power rate is due mainly to the rise in transmission charge and the lifeline rate subsidy,” the Noreco II management said in a statement Aug. 28.
Also, the 25 percent of the generation charge component of the May 2024 billing from the WESM has been added to the August 2024 power rate, as ordered under Energy Regulatory Commission Case No. 2024-017 MC, it added.
In June, the ERC approved a staggered payment of WESM purchases by distribution utilities (DUs), like Noreco II, for four months, “to mitigate the impact of 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.”
Noreco II said this is the third of the four staggered collections as directed by ERC. The DU serves MCOs in the cities of Dumaguete, Tanjay, and Bayawan, and the towns of Sta. Catalina, Pamplona, Amlan, San Jose, Sibulan, Valencia, Bacong, Dauin, Zamboanguita, Siaton, and Basay. | CGC
