Data from the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP) said electricity tariffs surged last week during the execution of the Red and Yellow alerts following limited power generating capacity.
In a report by Manila Standard, data from the market operator revealed that system-wide prices had hiked up on the third day of the sustained red and yellow alerts, April 18, reaching Php 13.65 per kilowatt hour (kWh).
IEMOP said that these prices are still for validation as adjustments are scheduled towards the end of the current Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) billing month. The monthly total of spot trades is used to calculate WESM rates.
On April 18, the price in the Luzon grid totaled Php 13.39 per kWh, while Visayas and Mindanao was at Php 14.64 per kWh and Php 12.45 per kWh, respectively.
This indicated a notable rise compared to the systemwide prices of Php 7.97 per kWh on April 16 and Php 6.14 per kWh recorded on April 17.
While Luzon’s average price stood at Php 8.12 per kWh on April 17, Visayas and Mindanao recorded Php 8.29 per kWh and Php 6.52 per kWh, respectively. This showed a noticeable increase compared to the recorded price on April 16 of Php 5.55 per kWh, Php 5.73 per kWh, and Php 5.44 per kWh.
The market operator added that on April 17, at 2:50 PM, the system’s peak demand was 18,256 megawatts (MW), while the available supply was 20,108 MW.
IEMOP also stressed that with the margin of supply at par with the demand, local power interruptions had occurred in areas with increased demands.
The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) issued a red alert from April 16 to April 19 in the Luzon and Visayas grids. On April 20, the system operator sustained the yellow alert for the Luzon grid as 22 power plants went on forced outage.
