CONSUMERS can expect lower electricity bills this month due to a slight reduction in overall transmission rates in April, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) said on Wednesday.
Transmission rates are the regulated fees that the NGCP charges to send high-voltage electricity from power generation plants to local distribution utilities like the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) or electric cooperatives.
The rates for April dropped to P1.5983 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) from March’s P1.7526/kWh, due to lower transmission wheeling and ancillary services (AS) costs while electricity consumption rose during the period.
Transmission wheeling costs are delivery fees or “toll charges” for moving electricity across the country, while AS are the grid’s backup power and support services that keep electricity supply steady and prevent blackouts.
The rates declined because NGCP’s fixed revenue targets and total grid stability costs are divided across a much larger volume of electricity. This mathematical spread reduces the final cost charged for each individual kilowatt-hour, even if overall power usage across the grid is higher.
Transmission wheeling rates went down by 14.16 percent to P0.6028/kWh in April from P0.7022/kWh in March.
AS rates also decreased by 5.02 percent to P0.8088/kWh in April compared to P0.8516/kWh in March.
