Baguio, Benguet power rates dips in January

BAGUIO CITY (January 16, 2025) -- Power rates in Baguio City and Benguet province dipped this January, the Benguet Electric Cooperative (BENECO) said.

BENECO’s January 2025 rate of P10.7718 per kilowatt hour (kWh) is lesser by P0.2025 compared to the December 2024’s rate of P10.9743/kwh, thus, a household that will consume 100 kWh will pay P1,077.18 for the month.

BENECO’s non-network services department manager Fraiser Angayen explained that the lower rates was caused by the reduction of the power cost that the cooperative purchased from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM).

The power purchased from WESM represents 12.09% of BENECO’s total power requirement as the bulk of the power supply, which is 87.37%, comes from the Limay Power Inc. (LPI).

The LPI is the electric cooperative’s major power suppler while the WESM is the country’s spot market for power supply.

“The decrease in coal price in the global market had a bigger impact in our generation rate, despite the noted increase in foreign exchange (FOREX) rate,” Angayen further explained.

BENECO had purchased most of its power supply from LPI thru its one year Emergency Power Supply Agreement (EPSA) with the San Miguel affiliate.

According also to Angayen, the cost of power purchased from WESM and LPI compose the blended generation rate of BENECO that is passed on to consumers every month as generation cost.

“Had we bought all our power supply from the WESM, our generation rate could have been less than P4.00 per kWh since the spot market prices were low for the period,” Melchor Licoben, general manager explained, noting that buying all power requirements from the WESM would not be possible in view of the EPSA with LPI.

Licoben further stressed, “ideally, bilateral contracts are better to ensure a continuous and stable supply of electricity. The prices this month at WESM could be cheaper but in the long run, the prices could increase.” He added, “WESM is a volatile market that cannot guarantee a stable power supply. Relying on the WESM as a source of power supply will be risky.” 

The BENECO general manager further noted that WESM is there to stabilize supply whenever imbalances in the grid emerge. “But we are not sure of the power cost,” Licoben though quickly remarked.