THE Department of Energy (DOE) on Monday said that the Philippines had the highest residential electricity rates in Southeast Asia in June, driven largely by yellow alerts in the Visayas.
A yellow alert in the electricity grid means the power supply remains sufficient to meet consumer demand, but the operating safety margin has fallen below required levels.
Energy Undersecretary Rowena Guevara said the country’s average residential rate of P12.43 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) was more expensive than Singapore’s P12.34 per kWh. She attributed this to a shortage of power supply in the Visayas, where 21 power plants were on forced outage, forcing the region to rely on imported power from Luzon and Mindanao.
The Visayas had been under a yellow alert since May 13.
Guevara added that high electricity demand in April and May had pushed generation companies to rely on more expensive fuel sources to keep plants running, further raising rates in June.
Meralco’s rate rose to P14.48 per kWh in June from P14.33 per kWh in May, due to higher generation charges, though this was partly offset by lower transmission fees and ongoing customer refunds.
Despite the increase, Meralco ranked only fourth highest among distribution utilities nationwide.
The DOE said Southern Leyte Electric Cooperative posted the highest residential rate at P16.57 per kWh, followed by Northern Samar Electric Cooperative at P15.72 per kWh, Kalinga-Apayao Electric Cooperative at P14.53 per kWh, and Leyte IV Electric Cooperative at P14.46 per kWh.
On possible rate adjustments in August, Guevara said it was too early to tell, noting that rates depend heavily on global fuel prices and developments such as the situation in the Middle East, since the Philippines imports most of its fuel.
