Transmission charges push up MORE rates
By Alena Mae S. Flores – March 24, 2024, 8:00 pm
from manilastandard.net
MORE Electric and Power Corp., Iloilo City’s electricity distributor said its power rates increased by P0.06 per kilowatt-hour in March on higher transmission charges with the full commercial operations of the Reserve Market.
MORE Power said in a statement its current effective electricity rate went up to P10.0216 kWh from P9.96 per kWh in February.
The power distributor attributed the March rate increase to the P0.18-per-kWh adjustment in transmission charges due to ancillary services cost charged by the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP).
It said the ancillary service (AS) rates increased from the previous month following the full commercial operations of the Reserve Market on Jan. 26, 2024.
The Reserve Market is where all power generation companies with generating capacity/units capable of providing AS can offer and sell even without an ancillary service procurement agreement (ASPA) with NGCP.
The government asked NGCP to procure firm AS contracts to ensure security of supply.
“A large increase in the AS cost was due to the contingency reserve, with an increase almost 4 times that of the previous month. Contingency reserve are those power plants that is intended to take care of the loss of the largest synchronized generating unit in the grid,” MORE Power said.
The Visayas grid procures most of its contingency reserve requirement from the Reserve Market.
“With the tight supply and the on-going maintenance of power plants in the Visayas grid, there is very thin supply offered in the Reserve Market jacking up prices for this month. Most of the participants in the reserve market are also coal suppliers and diesel plants from the Visayas grid,” MORE Power said.
Meanwhile, MORE Power’s generation charge decreased of P0.11 per kWh this month on reduced the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) average prices.
WESM is the trading floor of electricity MORE Power’s distribution, supply, and metering (DSM) charges which goes directly to the company, remained the same.
