Electricity rates surge on ‘early Christmas’ demand

MANILA  -The early Christmas season frenzy in the Philippines triggered higher average prices in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market in the first two weeks of October, the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (Iemop) said over the weekend.

According to Iemop, the average spot market prices in the Luzon grid soared P7.58 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) from only P4.87 per kWh in September as the approaching Christmas season pulled up consumer demand—an increase of 55 percent.

Data from Iemop show that the average demand in Luzon in the first half of October went up to 9,638 megawatts (MW) from 9,377 MW the previous month. INQ

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