THE average price of electricity sold in the country’s Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) in August rose 15.3 percent, according to the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP).
Data provided by IEMOP on Wednesday showed that average price per kilowatt hour (kWh) in WESM as of August 25 for the entire Philippines was at P4.59 compared to July’s P3.99 per kWh.
IEMOP said the price rise was driven by lower available power supply for the month amid higher demand for electricity.
The firm’s data also showed that total average demand in the country for the period went up 1.7 percent to 14,052 megawatts (MW) from 13,812 MW while average supply decreased 0.7 percent to 20,611 MW from 20,754 MW.
Isidro Cacho Jr., IEMOP vice president for trading operations said that historically, power demand during the last quarter of the year ramps up especially since manufacturers prepare to produce enough goods for the Christmas season.
He added that in terms of customers of Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), this development may influence an upward rate increase as the August WESM prices will reflect in the September billing.
“It might result in a slight impact but I cannot say definitely how much. Meralco is the largest customer in Luzon so there is definitely an impact,” Cacho further said.
Meanwhile, average price per kWh in the WESM for Luzon in August was at P3.76 per kWh, which is 4.1 percent lower than July’s P3.92 per kWh. Average demand in the region edged up 1.8 percent in August to 9,882 MW from the previous month’s 9,710 M, while average supply rose 0.7 percent to 14,646 MW from 14,540 MW.
For Visayas, the average WESM price for the period was P6.40, which is 45.7 percent higher than July’s P4.39 per kWh. Demand grew 1.5 percent to 2,027 MW from 1,998 MW, while power supply in the region saw a 5 percent drop to 2,405 MW from 2,530 MW.
Meanwhile, average WESM price in the Mindanao grid for the period also jumped 75.4 percent to P6.66 from July’s P3.80 per kWh. Demand was up 1.9 percent to 2,144 MW from 2,104 MW, while available power supply fell 3.4 percent to 3,561 MW from 3,685 MW.
Data being cited by IEMOP does not count an entire month as the billing period from the WESM ends every 25th day of the month.
