THE Benguet Electric Cooperative (BENECO) has raised the price of power for its member-consumer-owners (MCOs) this month in light of increases in transmission and systems loss charges.
The current power rate for April is P9.5114 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) compared to the P9.3356/kWh rate in the previous month, marking an increase of P0.1758 kWh.
Similar price hikes were recorded for city and government fixtures and public buildings, as well as streetlights.
The electric cooperative’s power generation charge, or the cost for generation, is at P4.9501 per kWh, even as prices for coal, which BENECO relies on heavily for power, have spiked worldwide. Coal reached as high as 400 USD per cubic meter, compared to earlier peaks of 230 USD per cubic meter during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, the cooperative saw increases in its transmission charge or the cost of transmitting power, industrial rates, and systems loss charges.
BENECO saw a transmission charge for April at P0.8496/kWh, compared to the P0.7615/kWh last month in March.
Industrial rates for BENECO this month also increased by P0.2042/kwh. It went from P8.5826/kWh in March to P8.7668/kWh this month, while systems loss charges also increased by P0.0341/kWh, hiking from P0.5141/kWh in March to P0.5482/kWh in April.
