NGCP announces lower transmission rates for May

Electricity consumers can expect a decrease in the transmission rate reflected in their bills for the month of May, as the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) on Monday announced a downward adjustment.

The overall average transmission rate declined by 9.33% to P1.4492 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) from P1.5983 per kWh in April.

Regionally, Luzon saw a P0.1481-per-kWh reduction, Visayas with P0.2884 per kWh, and Mindanao with P0.0140 per kWh.

The NGCP attributed the decline to the lower wheeling rate—the fee for delivering power through the transmission grid—which fell by 6.99% to P0.5607 per kWh from P0.6028 per kWh in April.

The ancillary services (AS) rates or the pass-through costs for power supplied by power generators during supply-demand imbalance also decreased by 10.73% to P0.7220 per kWh from P0.8088 per kWh in April.

The grid operator earlier explained that it does not earn from AS, as these are remitted directly to generation companies with bilateral contracts with the NGCP, and to the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP) for services sourced from the reserve market.

The NGCP said it only charges 56 centavos per kWh for the delivery of its services, noting that its revenues are capped and regulated by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC). —KG, GMA News