NGCP: Transmission costs up in April consumer bills

MANILA, Philippines — Transmission charges will increase this month due to a spike in the cost of critical power reserves, according to the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines.

NGCP business and regulatory development head Julius Ryan Datingaling said that the overall transmission rate for April went up by 11.5 percent to P1.524 per kilowatt-hour from P1.3668 per kWh on a monthly basis.

The rate hike was attributed to the increase in ancillary service (AS) charges, or pass-through costs that support services required to maintain the stability and reliability of the power grid during supply-demand imbalances.

Datingaling said AS charges surged by 16 percent to P0.8094 per kWh from P0.6975 per kWh.

The adjustment included the third tranche of the settlement of the remaining 70 percent AS costs from the reserve market for the March 2024 billing period.

The NGCP does not benefit from the increase in AS prices, as charges are directly remitted to generation firms providing backup power to the grid.

Also contributing to the higher overall rate was the slight increase in transmission wheeling rates, or what the NGCP charges for its primary service of delivering power.

According to Datingaling, wheeling rates inched up by 4.8 percent to P0.5505 per kWh from P0.5252 per kWh.

Transmission charges, which account for only three percent of consumers’ power bills, refer to the fees charged to consumers for transporting electricity from power generation facilities to distribution systems.

A privately owned corporation, the NGCP is responsible for the operation, maintenance and development of the state-owned power grid.