CONSUMERS may see higher electricity bills this month after overall transmission charges increased by 13.55 percent for the January 2026 billing period, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) said in a press briefing on Thursday.
The NGCP operates the system that links power companies to distribution utilities like Meralco and cooperatives to deliver electricity across the country.
Transmission charges — or the fees that NGCP collects for transporting electricity from power plants to local distribution systems and cooperatives — rose to P1.5279 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) from P1.3455 in the previous billing period. This will be reflected in February electric bills.
The ancillary services (AS) rate — or the cost charged to consumers for services maintaining stability, reliability, and frequency in the transmission grid — stood at P0.6736 per kWh, NGCP said, adding that the transmission wheeling rate, or the fee for delivering electricity through the transmission grid, was P0.6921 per kWh.
Questions on ancillary services charges should be directed to power companies, since NGCP only collects and remits these costs, NGCP spokesman Cynthia Alabanza told reporters.
Despite the increase in transmission charges, NGCP’s revenue share in the overall electricity bill is small, Alabanza pointed out.
“At present, transmission accounts for less than 4 percent of the total power bill,” Alabanza said, noting that generation and distribution charges account for the bulk of consumers’ monthly electricity payments.
For the February electric bill, Alabanza clarified that NGCP is charging only 69 centavos per kWh for delivery of services, explaining that the company is regulated and subject to a revenue cap set by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).
“What the ERC approves is the maximum allowable revenue per year, and that is simply allocated across the months depending on the billing determinants,” she said.
Maximum allowable revenue
Meanwhile, Alabanza noted that the NGCP is reviewing the ERC’s decision to reduce by 15 percent the amount of NGCP’s maximum allowable revenue (MAR) for the fifth regulatory period (2020-2027).
The regulatory period enables the ERC to fix the rules, rates, and revenue caps for transmission firms and distribution utilities, balancing company investment needs with consumer affordability.
“At present, NGCP is studying the contents of the approval... [to] determine if there is a need to appeal,” Alabanza said, adding that legal remedies are available if necessary.
NGCP earlier applied for P400 billion in project costs to fund more than 300 transmission projects in the fourth and fifth regulatory periods, including major undertakings such as the Hermosa-San Jose project and the Cebu–Negros interconnection.
