Sunday, January 23, 2011

Power charges seen to go down this year

Consumers may expect share in NGCP’s savings
By Amy R. Remo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 21:27:00 01/23/2011

MANILA, Philippines—Power consumers nationwide can expect electricity transmission charges to go down this year, after the Energy Regulatory Commission gave its provisional approval over the new annual revenue requirement of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).
This means that the indicative equivalent transmission charge to its customers will go down by an overall average of P2.64 per kilowatt a month to P364.27 per kW this year, from a higher P366.92 per kW in 2010.
On per grid basis, the average monthly reduction will be P2.38 per kW in Luzon; 9 centavos per kW in Visayas; and P6.61 per kW in Mindanao.
Favorable impact
The indicative average monthly transmission charge for 2011 amounting to P364.27 per kW was inclusive of the Performance Incentive Scheme reward (PIS), the power delivery service (PDS) charge, system operator charge and metering service provider charge.
The new transmission charge formed part of NGCP’s application for the third regulatory period covering years 2011 to 2015, under the performance-based regulation (PBR) scheme.
“We note that the PBR scheme adopted for the transmission sector is beginning to reflect a favorable impact in terms of price on electricity consumers brought about by the lower indicative transmission charges for 2011 and onward,” said ERC executive director Francis Saturnino C. Juan.
January billing
“We expect that, with this ERC approval, NGCP will aim to be more efficient in its operations and aspire to deliver better quality power transmission services,” Juan added.
NGCP, the private-sector concessionaire that operates the power transmission system of the country, is expected to implement the reduced transmission charge starting its January 2011 billing.
According to NGCP’s previous application, transmission charges are expected to go down further next year to P362.43 per kW/mo; P360.54 per kW/mo for 2013; P359.37 per kW/mo for 2014; and P358.39 per kW/mo in 2015.
Share in the savings
“The PBR scheme is proving to be a win-win proposition for both the electricity service provider and electricity consumers,” ERC chairperson and CEO Zenaida G. Cruz-Ducut earlier said.
“NGCP, as a regulated entity, is assured of rates that will allow for cost-efficient operations and savings,” Ducut explained.
“Electricity consumers, on the other hand, can expect a more reliable and efficient transmission system and improved delivery of electricity and possibly, a share in the savings generated by the NGCP.”

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