Power consumers will see a slight increase in their November electricity bills due to higher transmission rates, led by a surge in ancillary services (AS) costs, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) said Tuesday.
The overall average transmission rate for the October billing period, which is billed to distribution utilities and electric cooperatives, rose by 7.91 percent to P1.5105 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) from P1.3998 per kWh in September.
Ancillary services rates, or pass-through costs for power supplied by generators during supply-demand imbalances, increased by P0.0997 per kWh. This represents a 15.23-percent hike from P0.6546 per kWh in September to P0.7542 per kWh in October.
NGCP assistant vice president and regulatory management head Julius Ryan Datingaling said the higher ancillary charges stemmed from the greater utilization of more oil-based and coal-fired power plants.
He cited a report from the Independent Electricity Spot Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP), which operates the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market.
“Because the oil, the oil prices are high, so that’s why, if they are the clearing price, so the reserve cost is higher,” Datingaling said in a briefing.
NGCP said it does not earn from or benefit from any change in AS prices. These costs are remitted directly to generation companies with bilateral contracts with NGCP, and to IEMOP for AS sourced from the reserve market.
The company said its effective transmission wheeling rate—the fee for delivering power through its grid—saw a minimal increase of P0.0034 per kWh. This rate went up from P0.5920 per kWh in September to P0.5953 per kWh in October, or equivalent to a 0.57 percent increase.
NGCP said the rise in effective transmission wheeling rates has no effect on its revenue, as its income is cap-limited by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).
