BENGUET Electric Cooperative (BENECO) power rates for Baguio City and Benguet have dropped slightly in the month of October to the tune of P0.0619 per kilowatt-hour (kWh).
According to BENECO General Manager Melchor Licoben, the drop is due to the decision of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) on the feed-in tariff–allowance (FIT-ALL) rate application of the National Transmission Corporation. The FIT-ALL is a government incentive program where renewable energy companies are paid a guaranteed fixed price for the energy they have been generating and contributing to the grid for 20 years.
The ERC approved a lowering of the FIT-ALL rate, which is now P0.0364/kWh, nearly a mere third compared to the previous P0.0983/kWh.
The October power generation charge also decreased by P0.001/ kWh or from P5.7300/kWh in September to the current P5.7299/kWh, contributing to the lower overall power rates in the province.
BENECO’s October residential rate for its member-consumer-owners (MCOs) was computed at P10.4277/kWh compared to P10.4820/kWh in September for a decrease of P0.0543/kWh.
Similar rate drops were also experienced in the province across the board, for commercial, private and government buildings alike, as well as in the charge for streetlights in the province.
