The Philippine Department of Energy (DOE) assures there will be sufficient power supply in the upcoming summer season.
According to philstar GLOBAL, the Department of Energy (DOE) has assured the public of sufficient power supply during summer and the following months, citing the lesser consumption of the business sector due to the imposition of community quarantine.
Mario Marasigan, chief of the DOE-Electric Power Industry Management Bureau, said there was less power consumption during the community quarantine.
“Based on our assessment, the consumption continues to decline. We will not be able to reach the projected 11,841 peak,” Marasigan said during a hearing of the joint congressional energy commission.
He said the only challenge is maintenance.
Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, chair of the joint commission, stressed the importance of having a stable power supply in the National Capital Region (NCR) and the rest of the country in the wake of the vaccine rollout being implemented by the government.
Philstar GLOBAL mentions, Gatchalian said the hearing was meant to clarify issues regarding the country’s power demand and supply outlook for the summer.
Sen. Nancy Binay asked Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi whether the setting up of ancillary service plants or providing necessary support to the primary activities or operation of an organization would increase the price of electricity.
Cusi replied in the affirmative, saying the country has to have those ancillary reserves for a steady supply of energy.
Philstar GLOBAL explains, customers of the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) enjoyed lower power rates in the first quarter of the year as average retail rates dropped by P0.29 per kilowatt-hour (kwh) compared to the same period last year.
The average retail rate amounted to P7.82 per kwh in the first quarter from P8.11 per kwh during the same period last year, according to Meralco FVP and regulatory management head Jose Ronald Valles.
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Lower generation and transmission costs and the systems loss over/under-recovery rate refund approved by the ERC resulted in a 21.04 percent reduction in system loss charge.
The FIT-Allowance recorded a nine percent drop, resulting in lower FIT-All rate since January, compared to the same period last year.
Transmission charge posted a 0.5 percent decrease due to the ERC-approved transmission over/under recovery implemented since the start of the year (2021).
Meralco, however, saw a 7.1 percent uptick in distribution charge to P1.54 per kwh owing to the shift in customer consumption due to quarantine protocols.
Residential sales went up, while non-residential operated at lower load factors, which led to higher residential sales share in the first three months compared to the same period last year, philstar GLOBAL reported.
Valles said that with the residential distribution rate higher compared to other customers, higher residential sales result in a higher overall average rate.
Power cost in Metro Manila – which tracked its lowest level in March – significantly contributed to the easing of inflation rate in the NCR.
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