Power rates start to go down in Ilocos Norte

DIVERSE RESOURCES Ilocos Norte is known for renewable sources of energy such as this wind farm in Burgos town, FILE PHOTO

LAOAG CITY, Ilocos Norte — Consumers in Ilocos Norte province are seeing about a P3 cut in their electricity bills in the first month of the year, according to an advisory from the Ilocos Norte electric cooperative (INEC) on Monday, Jan. 9.

From a residential power rate of P17.8966 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in October last year, it went down to P14.0450, inclusive of value-added tax, for January 2023.

This brought a total cut of at least P3.8516 per kWh, the electric co-op said.

Last December, the power rate in the province was at P14.4448 per kWh.

The generation charge, or the cost of power generated and sold to INEC by its suppliers such as Masinloc Power Partners Co. Ltd (MPPCL), DMCI Power Corporation, WESM, and the INEC Mini-Hydro Power Plant, comprises 63 percent of a consumer’s total electricity bill for January.

The INEC has entered into a 20-year contract with MPPCL to supply power to the cooperative.

Ilocos Norte hosts renewable energy companies, including wind farms in Burgos, Bangui, and Pagudpud towns, as well as an expanding solar farm in Currimao town.

But these companies do not supply power to the province as they could not “produce continuously for 24 hours,” according to INEC general manager Felino Herbert Agdigos during a city council inquiry in July last year.

In the past months, consumers bore the brunt of high power rates in the province, with average power rates in the past six months pegged at P16.9385 per kWh, inclusive of value-added tax.

Ilocos Norte First District Rep. Sandro Marcos said during a press briefing last week that it would be his priority to bring down power rates in the province this year.

“Now that we have turned to a new year ay gawing mas mura talaga ang kuryente (let’s make electricity cheaper). We have been trying to get a meeting with San Miguel (referring to SMC Global Power Holdings Corp, which owns and operates MPPCL) to be able to change the [20-year] contract structure,” he said.

Of the 58-MW total requirement in the province, at least 51-MW are from MPPCL, a coal-fired power plant.

On Jan. 3, Gov. Matthew Marcos Manotoc met with officials of the National Electrification Administration (NEA) to address power rate issues in the province.

“The NEA and the provincial government vowed to intensify their cooperation in addressing electricity-related challenges in the province to provide the best quality service to its member-consumer-owners,” according to the NEA. INQ

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