TRANSMISSION RATES will decline on this month’s electricity bills after the reduction in ancillary service (AS) and transmission wheeling rates, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) said.
“Both the transmission (wheeling) and AS rate have decreased,” Julius Ryan D. Datingaling, head of regulatory management at NGCP, said at a briefing on Wednesday.
The overall rate for September, which will appear in October electricity bills, decreased 1.23% month on month to P1.3998 per kilowatt-hour (kWh).
AS charges, or power reserves deployed by grid operators to support the transmission of power and to maintain reliable operations, declined 1.70% month on month to P0.6546 per kWh.
Transmission wheeling rates fell 0.84% month on month to P0.5920 per kWh in September. These reflect the cost of delivering electricity from power generators to the distribution system.
Rates dropped 3.02% in Luzon, 6.62% in the Visayas, and 4.56% in Mindanao.
“NGCP does not earn from AS rates, as these are remitted directly to generating companies, and it does not benefit from any movement in their prices,” the company said.
Separately, NGCP Spokesperson Cynthia P. Alabanza said the company’s transmission facilities are prepared in case of a major earthquake in Metro Manila.
“While we’re still studying the routes and locations where the transmission lines and facilities will be built, we have many considerations — topography, flooding, and also fault lines,” Ms. Alabanza said.
Parts of Metro Manila are on the West Valley Fault, which is projected to generate a quake of up to magnitude 7.2 if the fault moves.
“We try to avoid those areas as much as possible so that in case a disaster happens, the impact can be mitigated, since we won’t be placing them directly over areas with fault lines,” Ms. Alabanza said. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera