Power transmission rates to go down, says ERC

Consumers can expect lower electricity bills starting February after the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) approves National Grid Corp. of the Philippines' application for the maximum annual revenue requirement. ERC said in a statement over the weekend National Grid's approved maximum annual revenue requirement of P46.284 billion would translate to a lower per-kilowatt cost from the previous year. With the approved maximum annual revenue requirement, the equivalent monthly transmission charge to customers will go down by P2.65 per kilowatt (kW) to P364.27 per kW from P366.92 per kW, according to ERC. "There would be a favorable impact in terms of price [in favor of ] electricity consumers brought about by the lower indicative transmission charges for 2011 and onwards," said ERC executive director Francis Saturnino Juan. Juan said National Grid will "be more efficient in its operations and aspire to deliver better quality power transmission services." The transmission rates that National Grid charges are based on an internationally accepted rate-setting methodology called the performance-based rate-setting scheme. National Grid is the concessionaire that operates the power transmission system of the country that consists of 20,236 circuit kilometers and a total capacity of 24,607 megavolt amperes. In January 2009, Sy-led National Grid assumed the operations of National Transmission Corp. which formerly operates the country’s “electricity highway." — JE/VS, GMANews.TV