The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) reported a 5.49 percent increase in overall transmission charges for the supply month of June, translating into P1.2113 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) from P1.1482 in May.
The uptick, which will be reflected in consumers’ July power bills, was mainly driven by higher costs for ancillary services (AS) — or standby power reserves tapped during sudden outages or grid disruptions.
In a Monday media briefing, NGCP said AS rates rose by 9.32 percent to P0.6182/kWh from P0.5655/kWh in the prior billing period.
For customers of Meralco, this pushed transmission-related charges up by P0.0734/kWh in the month’s electricity bill.
NGCP stressed that it does not earn from AS charges, which are pass-through costs remitted to power generators under bilateral contracts and the reserve market.
Meanwhile, transmission wheeling charges — the rates NGCP collects for delivering electricity through its grid — also increased, though more modestly, by 0.39 percent to P0.4611/kWh.
NGCP also confirmed that it will begin implementing a P28 billion under-recovery charge in compliance with a recent order from the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).
The amount, covering the period 2016 to 2020, will be billed starting July 2025, with the impact reaching end-users by August.
“This will appear as a new line item labeled ‘2016–2020 Under Recovery,’ with a fixed rate of P0.0384/kWh to be collected over 84 months — from July 2025 to June 2032,” Julius Ryan Datinggaling, NGCP’s head of revenue management, said.
While the ERC approved the recovery, it also disallowed a portion of NGCP’s claims.
NGCP spokesperson Cynthia Alabanza said the company is still evaluating the full financial impact but welcomed the decision after years of delay.
“This ruling has been long overdue,” Alabanza said. “It covers transactions as far back as 2016 and should have been resolved as early as 2014. The collection allows us to recover legitimate costs tied to massive infrastructure investments poured into the transmission system in recent years.”
