MANILA, Philippines – State-run National Power Corporation (NPC) has been allowed by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to adjust its generation cost by P0.50 per kilowatt hour (kWh) nationwide starting the January billing cycle to account for deferred cost recoveries on its operations under Small Power Utilities Group (SPUG). The exact impact on the overall rate billed to customers has not been fully ascertained by the power firm, but spokesperson Dennis Gana noted this will ease their financial burden as far as their SPUG operations are concerned.
Given the one-month lag on cost pass-on, electricity consumers will likely feel the impact of NPC-SPUG rate adjustment in the February billing cycle. The universal charge for missionary electrification is a component in the rates being billed to customers.
“NPC-SPUG is hereby authorized to recover the DAA (deferred accounting adjustment) for Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao in the amount of P0.50 per kWh starting its January 2011 billing period,” the ERC has specified in its ruling.
The state-owned power firm had earlier applied for over P5 billion worth of cost recoveries for SPUG, but the initial amount permitted by the regulator to be recouped from customers was just at P2.7 billion.
Myrna Velasco, Manila Bulletin
