BENECO rates down by P0.11 cents this September

By LAARNI S. ILAGAN

Benguet Electric Cooperative (BENECO) consumers will get a reprieve in their electric bills this September as they will pay less an average of P0.11 centavos per kilowatt-hour (kWh).

September’s rate will be P11.13/kWh.

This means that for a household consumption of 100 kWh, the monthly bill will be on average about P1,119.21. The monthly rate in August was P11.24/kWh.

The reduction in the generation rate by P0.4237/kWh is primarily attributed to the decrease in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) rate, along with an increase in savings from trading in the WESM, which improved from P0.12/kWh last month to P0.16/kWh this month.

The rate in July was P10.33/ kWh.

The WESM decrease in rate and WESM savings offset the increase in the transmission cost following the directive of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to resume the collection of the Ancillary Service-Reserve Market billed by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) amounting to P20.8 million.

The ERC lifted the suspension of the settlement of the Ancillary Services charges which means that the charge will be collected in September, Fraiser Angayen, Non-Network Services Department (NNSD) manager, explained.

The ERC halted the said collection in March 2024.  The ancillary charge refers to reserve power from power generators on stand-by ready-to-supply power in case there is a shortage maintain reliability, and stability, and prevent the grid from collapsing due to a shortage of power supply. (LSI)