Photo courtesy of Decorp's Facebook page
DAGUPAN CITY -- The Dagupan Electric Corporation (DECORP) increased its power rates by PHP0.70 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) effective billing month of December 2019.
A typical household consuming about 100 kWh per month would be added PHP70.
In an interview Wednesday, DECORP’s legal counsel and spokesperson Randy Castilan attributed the adjustment to several emergency shutdowns of power plants that the firm has contracts with.
“Aside from emergency shutdowns, the power plants are also taking advantage of the cold weather to conduct maintenance and repairs in preparation for the summer period where electricity demand skyrockets,” he said.
Castilan said the two power plants the DECORP has bilateral contracts with can only produce 40 megawatts of power.
“Sometimes, we (DECORP) peak at 70 megawatts which is why we purchase more power from the wholesale electricity stock market (WESM),” he added.
The WESM is where power plants in Luzon sell their excess power. Frequently, if there is scheduled maintenance or emergency shutdowns of some power plants, the price in the WESM increases due to diminishing supply.
Castilan said certain power plants with expensive rates enter to maintain the power supply in the grid.
Meanwhile, consumers are advised to save electricity in the coming months, as the third tranche of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law will come into play come March 2020 billing month.
However, Castilan said the plan to suspend the implementation of the third tranche is sought but there is still no definite advisory concerning the suspension. (PNA)
