Power rates in Baguio City and Benguet province have been increased this December, following adjustments announced by the Benguet Electric Cooperative (BENECO).
Consumers will pay P0.23 more per kilowatt-hour (kWh) this month, the power distributor Benguet Electric Cooperative (BENECO) said, citing increases in generation costs.
The rate increase amounts to an additional P1,097.30 for a residential customer consuming 100 kilowatt-hours (kWh) a month. An average household consumes near to 100 kWh a month, with the 2022 average being 87 kWh.
Meanwhile, low-voltage commercial, industrial, and public building consumers, as well as those using streetlights, will face a P0.2161/kWh increase. High-voltage customers will experience a P0.2321/kWh hike.
These hikes are owing to the increased generation charges, which is the amount of money the cooperative must pay to the power supplier.
The generation charge that BENECO must pay to Team Energy, its power supplier, is a pass-through charge that the cooperative collects from its member-consumer-owners, and is remitted directly to the supplier.
The rate increase from P10.7362 per kWh in November to P10.9743 per kWh in December is attributed to rising global coal prices and fluctuations in foreign exchange rates.
