DAVAO CITY —The Davao Light and Power Co. (DLPC) scaled down its power rate for the second time after February’s cut to P11.52 per kilowatt-hour (kWh).
The company further slashed the rate by another 38 centavos per kWh to P11.14 per kWh this month. DLPC said the reduction was due to its participation in the commercial operation of the Philippine Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) in Mindanao, “which the company took advantage of given the low power supply prices.”
The reduction was also due to a subsequent price slash by coal suppliers, DLPC said.
The reduction came nearly nine months after power generation rates soared beginning June last year as the price of imported fuel, particularly coal, increased. With the easing in prices in the world market, power rate reduction was also initiated this year by firms like DLPC.
In January, Davao Light announced a reduction by 93 centavos that customers should have seen in their bill for February.
A monthly bill from the DLPC is divided into four major components: generation and transmission; distribution; subsidies and other charges; and, government charges and taxes.
Generation and transmission charges are pass-through charges that the distribution utility collects and pays to power suppliers and the transmission operator, respectively, DLPC said.
The company said it only charges its customers for distribution, which remains at an average of nearly P1.43 per kilowatt-hour as approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission. This charge has not increased since 2013, according to DLPC.
