Consumers of MORE Electric and Power Corp. in Iloilo City enjoyed lower rates for the sixth straight month this year.
The company said the residential rate for May to June went down by almost P1 to P12.2990 per kilowatt-hour from P13.2511 per kWh.
“This is the sixth straight month that MORE Power is reducing its rates,” the electric distribution utility in Iloilo City said.
MORE Power recently initiated the bill deposit refund to their customers. It said it is ready to refund about P5 million worth of bill deposits to customers this year.
The company attributed the drop in charges to the decrease in generation cost, driven by the inclusion of geothermal power in the power supply mix made by the Energy Development Corp.
It said the entry of renewable energy suppliers into the supply mix paved the way for the value-added tax on the generation charge to drop to P0.1613 per kWh.
Geothermal power is a renewable energy source that is not only cost-effective but also has many environmental benefits.
The spot market price in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market, the drop in the price of coal and the transmission charge which went down to P0.7226 per kWh from P0.9057 per kWh last year also contributed to the decrease in electricity charges last month.
MORE Power said the decrease in charges also led to lower system loss charge from 7 percent to 6.49 percent, which also helps customers’ bills.
MORE Power president and chief executive Roel Castro said their voluntary return of the bill deposit is in their desire to be an example to other distribution utilities.
“Even if the customer does not ask for it, we go out of our way to inform the customers that this is due to you and we will return it. Since we do not have any intention to use the money, we do not have the intention to keep the money; we do not have the intention of using it for our operation; why keep it when it is already due for return” Castro said.
The bill deposit is what consumers pay when they apply for electric meter.
Article 7 of the Magna Carta for residential electric consumers stated that the bill deposit should be returned by DU after 36 months provided that the consumer pays on time and has no record of disconnection.
Pursuant to the said law, the customer should apply for a bill deposit refund, but MORE Power took the initiative by informing the customer that they could already process their refund.
The Energy Regulatory Commission considered MORE Power’s bill deposit refund initiative as a “milestone”.
ERC commissioner Alexis Lumbatan said it is rare for distribution utilities to return a bill deposit refund, so this is a “milestone” that should be emulated.