Rising residential electricity rates in the Davao Region have prompted the Davao Consumer Movement to call on the national government to review the country’s pricing system for power, citing growing household burdens, Mindanao Times reports.

In September, several local power distributors implemented rate increases. Davao Light and Power Company, Inc. raised rates by PHP 1.5625/kWh to PHP 10.6407/kWh from PHP 9.0782/kWh in August. The company attributed the rise to “higher power supply prices in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) following power plant outages, which is among the factors that led to the yellow alerts issued by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) last month.”

The Davao del Sur Electric Cooperative (DASURECO) announced a PHP 1.0794/kWh increase to PHP 11.3187/kWh, citing “the approval of the NGCP’s Maximum Allowable Revenue (MAR) and the collection of Under-Recovery 2016–2022 by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), which is a pass-through charge that will also be reflected on consumer bills.”

Davao Oriental Electric Cooperative (DORECO) raised rates by PHP 0.9858/kWh to PHP 12.7382/kWh, while the Northern Davao Electric Cooperative (NORDECO) imposed the steepest hike of PHP 1.9068/kWh, bringing its residential rate to PHP 14.2651/kWh.

The Davao Consumer Movement said these rate adjustments add to the financial strain on households and urged regulators and policymakers to examine the pricing structure. 

“Electricity is a basic need — its pricing must reflect fairness, stability, and public interest,” the group said in a statement. They specifically called for a review of rates passed on from the WESM and NGCP, and for distributors to “make smarter decisions in where they source their power from to ensure balance in their supply mix and prices are properly managed.”

The group appealed to the Energy Regulatory Commission, the Department of Energy, and legislators to “urgently address the compounding factors behind these rate hikes” to protect consumers from systemic inefficiencies.

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