The reduction in the price of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), the venue for trading electricity in the country, has brought down the average residential power rates of all three distribution utilities in Negros Occidental in August.

These include the Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco), the Northern Negros Electric Cooperative (Noneco) and the Negros Occidental Electric Cooperative (Noceco).

In a statement on Tuesday night, August 22, Noneco management said its electricity rate decreased by P0.82 per kilowatt hour (kWh) to P11.73 for the current billing month from P12.55 in July.

This is brought by a reduction in the WESM market price by P1.09 per kWh and also in government charges and payable taxes on generation costs, it added.

Covering Bacolod City and five neighboring localities, Ceneco announced a reduction of P0.29 per kWh in August to P11.30, from P11.59 last month.

“Generation charges decreased by 3.60 percent compared to the previous month due to a decrease in WESM price of P1.27 per kWh,” acting general manager Arnel Lapore said in a statement.

He added there is also a decrease in other pass-through charges, such as inter-class cross-subsidy and value-added tax.

Lapore advised consumers anew to check their kilowatt-hour consumption instead of the bill amount, which varies depending on the pass-through charges.

“We continue to remind electricity consumers to conserve energy to avoid paying high electricity bills,” he added.

In the south, Noceco reported a power rate reduction of P1.75 per kWh, bringing down the cost to P11.61 in August from P13.37 in July.

“The main factor in the reduction in generation charge is the P1.58 per kWh decrease in WESM,” the management said in a statement, adding that the cost of power supplier Palm Concepcion Power Corp. has also decreased this month. (PNA)