MORE Power: Electricity bill lower in June

By Lenie Lectura – June 20, 2024
from Business Mirror

Customers of More Electric and Power Corp. (MORE Power) will see a reduction in their electricity bill this month after the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) ordered all distribution utilities to stagger the collection of charges covering purchases in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM).

In an advisory issued Tuesday night, MORE Power’s average electricity rate this month is P8.7749 per kilowatt hour (kWh). The distribution utility (DU) firm in Iloilo City was supposed to implement an overall rate of P11.8967 per kWh for June from May’s P11.3263 per kWh.

The decrease comes after the ERC approved the staggered payment of WESM purchases by DUs for four months starting this June until September. This is meant to mitigate the impact of higher generation rates that would be collected from consumers.

The company said this move will cushion the impact of high generation rates particularly for consumers of DUs with high WESM exposure amid the recent heat waves in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, and a series of red and yellow alerts in the Luzon and Visayas grids.

“This lower rate, effective for bills received from June 18, 2024, to July 12, 2024, aims to ease the impact of high electricity bills due to increased WESM generation charges,” MORE Power said.

Due to this deferment, a portion of the WESM generation cost will be added to the July, August, and September bills. As a result, customers can expect a slight rate increase, or an additional P0.7804 per kWh, in those billing months.

MORE Power said the adjustment in June power rates will be reflected automatically and the remaining deferred generation charges will apply automatically to the next three succeeding months.

Image credits: Facebook page of MORE Power