Philippine households face 16% rise in electricity costs

Households in the Philippines will see an increase in their electricity bills this month due to higher transmission and ancillary service costs announced by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).

The NGCP reported a 16.05% rise in ancillary services charges, increasing them from P0.70 to P0.8094 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for April.

Transmission wheeling rates also rose by 4.81% to P0.5505 per kWh in the March billing period, resulting in an overall transmission charge increase of 11.51% to P1.5299 per kWh.

NGCP clarified that consumers will be charged only 55 centavos per kWh for power delivery services, with the majority of the charges going towards ancillary service providers.

The corporation assured there wouldn't be any red alerts during Holy Week activities if no unexpected maintenance shutdowns occur and all promised plants go online as scheduled.