Transmission rates drop 1.23% in October, NGCP reports

Electricity consumers can expect slightly lower power transmission charges this October after the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) announced a 1.23 percent decrease in overall transmission rates.

NGCP Assistant Vice President and Regulatory Management head Julius Ryan Datingaling said the average transmission rate dropped to ₱1.3998 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) from ₱1.4171/kWh in the previous billing period, mainly due to lower ancillary services (AS) and transmission wheeling rates.

He explained that wheeling rates cover the cost of delivering electricity through NGCP’s transmission network, while AS rates reflect the cost of reserve power services used to stabilize the grid. 

For the September billing period, the average AS rate decreased by 1.70 percent to ₱0.6546/kWh, while the transmission wheeling rate slipped by 0.84 percent to ₱0.5920/kWh.

The drop in NGCP’s rates contrasts with Meralco’s earlier announcement of higher power rates for October, which the utility partly attributed to increased transmission costs.

NGCP Assistant Vice President and Public Relations head Cynthia Alabanza clarified that the company does not profit from ancillary service charges since these are regulated and revenue-capped. “We only present them on a month-on-month basis for transparency so consumers can understand where the charges come from,” she said.