Luzon, Visayas power rates dip in July, Aug

MANILA  -Lower demand in the Luzon and Visayas grids pulled down spot market rates in July until the first two weeks of August by at least 15 percent, the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (Iemop) said.

According to Iemop, rates in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) went down to P5.43 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in the two island groups, as average demand slowed to 11,283 megawatts (MW) from 11,641 MW in the previous billing period.

Peak demand in the two grids was 14,465 MW against a 16,932-MW supply recorded on Aug. 9, Iemop data showed.

Iemop corporate strategy and communications chief Isidro Cacho earlier explained that the supply margin in the grid remained stable, and that lower prices may be seen in the coming months as the weather cools down.

Power distributors such as Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) buy power from the spot market, whose prices can be volatile depending on demand, in cases of power plant outages.

WESM prices influence generation charges, or the cost of power purchased from suppliers that account for more than 50 percent of a Meralco customer’s total monthly bill.

Cacho had also noted that the downtrend in WESM prices may continue if there would be no unforeseen plant outages, even as the El Niño weather phenomenon was expected to be at its worst in the latter part of the year.

Despite the improvements in the Luzon and Visayas grids, Iemop data show that average spot market rates in Mindanao rose to P4.86 per kWh in the first half of August from P3.79 per kWh in July. This was due mainly to higher demand at 1,866 MW from 1,808 MW in the previous billing period. Iemop had also observed a drop in supply mid-July due to the forced outage of several baseload power plants.

READ: Lower demand pulls down electricity spot market prices