WESM prices climb 15.3% in August due to plant outages

Electricity prices on the spot market surged by 15.3% to P4.59 per kilowatt hour (kWh) in August, driven by significant plant outages and a rise in demand.

The Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP) reported that demand increased by 1.7% to 14,052 megawatts (MW), while available supply decreased by 0.7% to 20,611 MW.

Forced and planned outages of cheaper power plants, including coal and biomass facilities, led to overall price increases.

In the Visayas, prices surged by 45.7% to P6.40 per kWh due to a 5% decrease in supply and a 1.5% increase in demand.

Conversely, spot prices in Luzon declined by 4.1% to P3.76 per kWh, even with higher demand and supply, attributed to power exports to the Visayas.

These fluctuating prices on the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) will be reflected in consumers' September electricity bills.