The effective power rate for all users in the Catanduanes grid will increase by at least 3.3 percent this April 2024, bringing the cost of electricity above the P13/kilowatt-hour level for residential consumers for the first time in recent years.
The rate hike will be implemented by the First Catanduanes Electric Cooperative, Inc. (FICELCO) after its lone private power provider, Sunwest Water & Electric Co. (SUWECO), informed last March 14, 2024 that it would charge the cooperative the new Subsidized Approved Generation Rate (SAGR) of P7.39 per kilowatt-hour beginning the next monthly billing as mandated by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).
From the March 2024 power rate of P12.4904/kWh, the cost of electricity for residential consumers will increase to P13.342/kWh. This does not include the metering charge of P5.60, the cooperative clarified.
On the other hand, the new rates for commercial users, public buildings and streetlights will be P9.2972/kWh, P9.2618/kWh and P10.2822/kWh, respectively.
To illustrate, a household consuming an average of 100 kWh per month will find their total bill to be P1,339.80, or higher by P43.80 than the previous total of P1,296.00.
The previous SAGR used to be P5.6404/kWh but in 2018, the ERC approved the National Power Corporation’s petition for a higher SAGR in its so-called Small Power Utilities Group (SPUG) including off-grid islands like Catanduanes due to excise tax imposed on the power firm.
The implementation of the SAGR adjustment of P1.3116/kWh brought the new SAGR to P6.9520/kWh.
A higher generation rate is being sought by NPC this year, with the Commission scheduling public, virtual hearings over the next few months among the affected electric cooperatives in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
In ERC Case No. 2023-133 RC, Napocor cited the increase in SPUG fuel costs, energy sales and Universal Charge-Missionary Electrification (UCME) requirements, and the expansion of missionary electrification services as the reasons for its proposed higher SAGR.
It likewise used as basis the total Gross Regional Domestic Product, Consumer Price Index, Human Development Index, Mean Per Capita Income and Poverty Incidence, Average Income, Expenditures and Savings of Households in SPUG Areas, and Comparative Generation Rates for the Off-Grid Electric Cooperatives vis-à-vis Nearby Main Grid in evaluating the new SAGR.
Under the NPC petition, the proposed new SAGR for Catanduanes and other SPUG areas will be P8.5982/kWh for residential consumers and P10.0488/kWh for commercial/industrial users, compared to the current P7.39/kWh for all users.
This will be an increase of P1.2082/kWh, or 16 percent, for residential consumers and P2.6588/kWh, or 36 percent, for commercial/industrial establishments.
NPC has asked the Commission to issue a provisional authority for the adoption of the proposed rates while the petition is being heard.
The public, virtual hearing for stakeholders in the Catanduanes grid is set on May 29, 2024, 9 AM, at the FICELCO headquarters in Marinawa, Bato.