Power rates up in Baguio, Benguet

BAGUIO CITY (December 16, 2024) -- Power rates are hiked in Baguio City and Benguet province this December.

Consumers will pay 23 centavos more per kilowatthour (kWh) this month, the power distributor Benguet Electric Cooperative (BENECO) said, blaming increases in generation costs.

The adjustment from November's P10.7362/kWh to P10.9743/kWh this December, Fraiser Angayen, non-network services department manager of BENECO attributed the hike in rates to

The global coal prices and foreign exchange (FOREX) rates.

The generation charge is billed to BENECO by its power supplier and as a pass through charge, BENECO will have to collect the charge from its member consumers and remit the payment directly to its power supplier.

It similar to the transmission charge which member consumers will pay but the electric cooperative will forward it to the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), the operator of the country’s transmission system.

The rate hike will mean that for residential customers who will use 100 kWh this December, they will have to pay P1,097.30.

While, low-voltage commercial, industrial and public building consumers, as well as those using streetlights, will see a P0.2161/kWh hike. High-voltage customers will experience an increase of around P0.2321/kWh.