BENECO rates up in December due to forex and coal price increase

Consumers of the Benguet Electric Cooperative (BENECO) will pay 23 centavos more per kilowatt-hour (kWh) this December. This month’s rate will be P10.9743/kWh compared to November’s P10.7362/kWh. The adjustment was caused by the increase in generation costs, which Fraiser Angayen, non-network services department manager, attributed to the rise in global coal prices and foreign exchange (FOREX) rates. The generation charge is billed to BENECO by its power supplier and as a pass-through charge, BENECO will have to collect the charge from its member consumers and remit the payment directly to its power supplier. This is similar to the transmission charge which member consumers will pay but the electric cooperative will forward it to the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), the operator of the country’s transmission system. The rate hike will mean that for residential customers who will use 100 kWh this December, they will have to pay P1,097.30. Meanwhile, low-voltage commercial, industrial and public building consumers, as well as those using streetlights, will see a P0.2161/kWh hike. High-voltage customers will experience an increase of around P0.2321/kWh. In the spirit of the holiday season, BENECO is advising its consumers to practice energy conservation and electrical safety to avoid overconsumption and prevent fire incidents, in light of the recent fire incidents in residential and business establishments in the city. By Laarni S. Ilagan