1 month ago
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The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) announced that transmission rates in consumers’ electricity bills increased due to high ancillary service (AS) charges in February.
In a briefing on Wednesday, Feb. 12, Julius Datingaling, head of the revenue management department, said transmission wheeling rates, which are charges for power delivery, rose from P0.5315 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) to P0.5422/kWh.
Datingaling explained that the wheeling rate increase was due to low energy consumption in January, which was reflected in February billings. This was driven by AS charges in January, which were P0.6640 per kWh, a 12 percent increase from P0.5928/kWh in December.
Ancillary service charges are the costs for services sourced from the AS Reserve Market and those provided through bilateral contracts with NGCP.
“This also includes the first tranche of the 70 percent AS transaction from the Reserve Market incurred in March 2024 which recovery was deferred by the ERC then,” Datingaling said.
The grid operator further explained that only 54 centavos of the overall transmission rate are billed to its consumers, stating, “This month's transmission charge is comprised mainly of AS charges remitted directly to power generators providing ancillary services to the grid.”
Furthermore, NGCP reiterated that it does not earn from AS or benefit from any price increases. “AS charges are pass-through, and generating companies benefited from this increase. AS are support services used to balance and stabilize the grid during power supply-demand imbalances.”
In other news, the NGCP is awaiting the Energy Regulatory Commission’s (ERC) final decision on its rate reset, which the ERC plans to complete this month and release in March.
“We're just waiting for the ERC to come out with a final determination,” NGCP spokesperson Cynthia Alabanza told reporters. “[The determination] contains their assessment of our [rate reset] application and the items they will allow us,” she added.
The ERC began deliberations on the NGCP’s fourth regulatory period (4RP) rate reset last month and has already received comments from stakeholders regarding the draft.
