Power consumers in this island province will face higher bills late this year or early 2025 once the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) completes a series of public hearings on the petition filed recently by the National Power Corporation (NPC) seeking the approval of the proposed new rates to be paid by consumers in off-grid areas, including Catanduanes.
Starting in March all the way to October 2024, hearings will be conducted for the proposed new Subsidized Approved Generation Rates (SAGR) for NPC’s Small Power Utilities Group (SPUG) areas in Mindoro, Marinduque, Palawan, Catanduanes, Masbate, Romblon, Tablas, Camotes, Siquijor, Bantayan, Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, among others.
The hearing on ERC Case No. 2023-133 RC in Catanduanes will be held via Zoom on May 29, 2024 at 9 AM at the main office of the First Catanduanes Electric Cooperative, Inc. (FICELCO) where stakeholders will participate in the expository presentation of the petition, pre-trial conference and presentation of evidence by NPC.
The proposed new SAGR rate of P8.5982 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for residential and P10.0488 per kWh for commercial/industrial will be implemented in Occidental and Oriental Mindoro, Marinduque, Palawan, Catanduanes, Masbate, Romblon, and Tablas, up from the current P7.39 per kWh.
From the current P8.2582 per kWh, new rates of P9.7068 per kWh for residential and P11.0128 per kWh are also proposed to be imposed in Camotes, Siquijor, and Bantayan.
The provinces of Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi, currently charged P7.0215 per kWh, are now proposed to pay P8.4465 per kWh for residential and P9.6106 per kWh for commercial/industrial.
In its petition, NPC cited increased fuel costs and foreign currency adjustments as the reason for higher SAGR.
FICELCO rates for January 2024 are P12.3504 per kWh for residential users, P8.7190 per kWh for commercial consumers, P8.6837 per kWh for public buildings, and P9.7040 per kWh for street lights.
If ERC grants the NPC petition late this year or by early 2025, the new rates of electricity in Catanduanes would be higher by P1.2082 per kWh.
For a residential user with a minimum consumption of 100 kWh, his monthly power bill would rise by 9.7 percent from P1,240.64 to P1,361.46.
The last time the ERC approved an increase in the SAGR for SPUG areas was in 2021 when it adjusted the same from P5.6404 per kWh to account for the Excise Tax.
This year the adjustment due to the Excise Tax is P1.7496 per kWh, bringing the existing generation rate to P7.39 per kWh.
While the NPC’s remaining power asset in Catanduanes, the Balongbong Mini-Hydroelectric Power Plant, is idle due to the non-renewal of its supply contract, the NPC’s Subsidized and Approved Generation Rate (SAGR) is the basis of the generation rate being charged by FICELCO’s only power supplier.
Sunwest Water & Electric Co. supplies all of the power requirements of the Catanduanes island grid, billed at a rate four percent (4%) below the SAGR.