ERC: HIGHER ELECTRICITY BILLS AFTER POWER SHORTAGES

Expect higher bills due to high power demand (Photo courtesy of ABS-CBN News)

The electricity bill may increase in the next bill according to the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), following the ERC's suspension of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM). WESM serves as the trading platform from which the power grids distributor can draw supply.

The ERC has not yet released an estimate of how big the possible additional charges will be, but it is said that consumers in the Luzon and Visayas grid will experience it in their next bill. According to Meralco, it is also possible that the bill will increase due to the increasing demand for electricity.

After the continues Red and Yellow alerts and recent power shortages, the price increases monitored will be reflected in customers’ April bills. This years is extraordinary, extreme heat really pushed the demand that surpasses the projected peak demand for the entire summer season according to the commission.

ERC Chairperson Monalisa Dimalanta explained that the country’s electricity prices is established so that the amount the customers pay represents the actual cost of energy without any government subsidies. 

The market will continue to run during Red Alerts, according to Dimalanta. The cost of power will be limited by secondary price cap P6.245/kWh, or the average cost of power over the final four weeks of the same time that red alert was issued. 

Though the increase amount is not yet specifically announced, it will depend on how much electricity a utility or cooperative got from the spot market. 

The investigation still rolls out on the the power plants that shut down unannounced resulting to Yellow and Red alerts in the Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao grids, by the ERC. And to prevent bill shocks for customers, the official pleaded with generators to be considerate and permit a staggered payment collection.

Source: Manila Standard

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