Two electric cooperatives in Negros Occidental have decreased residential rates for the month of August due to lower generation charge and reduced price in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM).

In the south, the Negros Occidental Electric Cooperative (Noceco) reported a significant decrease of P1.4994 per kilowatt hour (kWh).

Residential rate this month dropped to P10.7516 per kWh from P12.2510 per kWh in July.

Noceco general manager Jonas Discaya said in an advisory on Wednesday the lower generation charge could be attributed to the reduction in the price of power from the WESM.

Current average price is P5.1818 per kWh from the previous P8.3416 per kWh.

For August, there is a P1.5453 per kWh decrease in generation charge, which moved from P7.1275 to P5.5822 per kWh.

Also, decreases have been noted in the power supply agreement with Palm Concepcion Power Corp. (PCPC) and Kepco-Salcon Power Corporation (KSPC) at P0.1049 and P0.1866 per kWh, respectively.

Systems loss charge registered a decrease of P0.1866 per kWh as well.

In the Northern Negros Electric Cooperative (Noneco), there is a decrease of P0.7222 per kWh for August.

This month, effective rate is pegged at P11.2045 per kWh from P11.9269 in July.

Paulino Almedelia, corporate planning manager of Noneco, said the decrease was mainly a result of the reduction in the WESM price.

On top of the reduction of P0.8424 per kWh in generation charge, there is also a decrease of P0.0356 per kWh in other charges, including taxes.

The transmission charge, however, went up by P0.1558 per kWh.

On the other hand, the Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco) has reported an increase of P0.33 per kWh for August.

Ceneco officer-in-charge general manager Jose Taniongon said the rate for August is P11.3357 per kWh from only P11.0103 per kWh in July.

The upward adjustment is due to the increase in pass-through charges like transmission and generation, universal charges and value-added tax, among others.

Taniongon said that from a total of P9.8237 per kWh in July, this month’s pass-through charges moved up to P10.1491 per kWh, with an increase of P0.3254 per kWh.PNA/IMT