ILOILO City – Residents of this city have been enjoying a continuous drop in their electricity bills for the past three months.
This trend started when MORE Electric and Power Corporation (MORE Power), the sole power distributor in this city, reduced the total average rate from P14.84 per kilowatt-hour in the November 2022 billing to P14.68/kWh in December – a reduction of 15 centavos.
The downward trend continued this January, with a reduction of 53 centavos per kWh.
This month, MORE Power further reduced the rates by another 50 centavos, bringing the total reduction to P1.20 since December.
The total average rate of residential consumers in Iloilo City as of today is P13.64 per kWh.
The decrease in generation charges is attributed to the lower price of coal in the world market and Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) which has been declining in the past months.
MORE Power’s Vice President for Corporate Planning and Regulatory Niel Parcon said the reduction in fuel prices of coal-fired generation companies was due to the continued decline in the Newcastle index, which determines the price of coal in the world market.
“This also proves what we were saying before – that the price of coal in the world market greatly influences our generation charge and total average rate. If it increases, our rate increases. If it gets lower, our rates will decrease,” Parcon further explained.
If this trend will continue, Iloilo City residents can expect a more stable and affordable supply of electricity in the coming months, which will bring further relief to consumers’ pockets.
This decrease in electricity rates does not yet include MORE Power’s 20-megawatt geothermal power supply contract with the Energy Development Corp, which is much lower than the coal-based supply./PN
