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Isabela Electric Cooperative II (ISELCO II), which operates in the northern half of Isabela Province, announced lowered electricity rates in January.
Residential consumers are charged Php 8.3814 per kWh, while low-voltage users pay Php 7.1911 per kWh. High-voltage consumers are billed at Php 5.3254 per kWh, with SPUG-Palanan customers facing the highest rate at Php 10.9665 per kWh.
Small Power Utilities Group (SPUG)-Palanan customers typically pay higher rates due to the costs of supplying power to remote areas. Managed by the National Power Corporation (NPC), these off-grid systems face high expenses from fuel logistics, transportation, and limited infrastructure.
ISELCO II also informed customers that electricity rates may vary across municipalities and cities due to local taxes levied by the LGU. Charges like Business Tax, Franchise Tax, and Real Property Tax can affect the total amount shown on their billing statements.
Meanwhile, the cooperative reminded member-consumer-owners to be prudent in using electricity despite the reduced charges.
Reasons for the lowered prices
ISELCO II reminded the public that ISELCO I, which services Isabela’s southern part, also lowered electricity charges due to a decreased generation mix from the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM) and the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), which helped lower power costs.
PSALM is a government agency responsible for managing and privatizing the assets of the Philippine power sector, while WESM is a market where electricity is traded among suppliers and buyers to help determine real-time electricity prices.
The Manila Electric Company (MERALCO), the country’s largest electric distribution utility, provides more information on its website, saying that the decrease in WESM charges was due to better supply conditions in the Luzon grid, with average peak demand falling by 471 megawatts (MW). Meanwhile, “the average capacity on outage decreased by 305 MW,” stated MERALCO.
It also said IPP charges “went down because of the appreciation of the peso, affecting 97% of IPP costs that were dollar-denominated.” As many Independent Power Producers (IPPs) rely on imports for fuel and equipment priced in US dollars, a stronger peso makes these imports more affordable in peso terms, leading to lower electricity charges.
Educating the public
Electricity charges represent the costs consumers incur for the electricity they consume. These charges are usually broken down into several components, which ISELCO II highlights on social media pages to help educate the public.
So far, ISELCO II has discussed the components of electricity charges, including generation, transmission, distribution, supply, metering (DSM), system loss, MCC (Members’ Contribution for Capital Expenditure)/RFSC (Reinvestment Fund for Sustainable Capital Expenditures), subsidies, universal charges, and government taxes. The website provides definitions of each component, the factors that influence them, their percentage share in the total electricity bill, and how these charges affect the cooperative’s member-consumer-owners.
According to the electric cooperative’s website, ISELCO II, which started operation in 1978, services 22 municipalities and 545 barangays.
Sources:
https://rmn.ph/bawas-singil-sa-kuryente-ngayong-enero-ipinatupad-ng-iselco-2/
https://www.napocor.gov.ph/spug-luzon-palanan-dpp
https://company.meralco.com.ph/news-and-advisories/lower-rates-january-2025
https://www.facebook.com/media/set?set=a.898804989124284&type=3
https://iselco2.com.ph/iselco-ii-profile