A consumer group in Davao has called on the national government to look into the rising electricity rates being imposed by distribution utilities in the region.

The group Davao Consumer Movement made the appeal after observing that power rates have increased by more than P1 to P2 per kilowatt-hour.

According to a report by GMA Super Radyo Davao, the group urged authorities to review the regulation on pass through charges, particularly those coming from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) and the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).

The group emphasized the need for transparency, accountability, and proper regulation of the country’s energy system to identify the real causes of power rate hikes and to prevent consumers from shouldering the burden of inefficiencies.

The group also called on the power distributors to review their energy sources to balance supply and help stabilize electricity costs.

Distribution utilities in the region had earlier announced rate hikes for September.

As of this writing, the power rate imposed by the Davao Oriental Electric Cooperative (DORECO) is P12.74/kWh; nearly P11.32/kWh by the Davao del Sur Electric Cooperative (DASURECO); and more than P10.64/kWh by the Davao Light and Power Company.

Meanwhile, the Northern Davao Electric Cooperative (NORDECO) has yet to issue a statement regarding the rate for September, as of this writing.

However, based on the group’s information, NORDECO’s rates have increased by almost P2, now reaching nearly P14.27/kWh.

Power distributors attributed the increase to the higher supply costs from WESM and the yellow alert status declared on the Mindanao grid following outages in several power plants operated by NGCP.