Prices at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) in the Luzon grid went up by P1.29 per kilowatt0hour in March on increased demand and shutdown of some power plants.
WESM is among the sources of electricity for Manila Electric Company and other power retailers.
Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP) assistant manager for market simulation and analysis Warren Manalo said WESM prices in the Luzon grid surged to P5.26 per kWh from P3.97 per kWh in February 2024.
“There’s some [price] spikes, particularly in the first week of March, which is attributable to the some planned and forced outage in Luzon and Visayas region,” Manalo said.
“The demand increases up to around 6 percent from 8,831 megawatts to 9,367 MW. There’s a spike in prices at around first week of March, which is attributable to the outage of some plants,” Manalo said.
The supply margin in the Luzon grid was at 2,474 MW as available supply reached 12,851 MW, compared to demand of 9,367 MW.
The higher WESM prices for Luzon are expected to have an impact of the electricity charges of Meralco, the country’s biggest power retailer in April.
Meanwhile, average prices in the Visayas grid soared by P1.68 per kWh to P6.26 per kWh in March.
Manalo said a market intervention was imposed in the Visayas grid on March 1 amid the tight power supply situation.
“But fortunately, the grid recovered quicky unlike last January. Because there’s a supply that that helps, particularly to supply coming from the Mindanao and going to Luzon,” he said.