Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 31) — The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) seeks to hike power rates for it to recover assets worth ₱10.3 million damaged by flooding in 2018.
In an 11-page application to the Energy Regulatory Commission, the NGCP proposed that customers in Luzon be charged an additional ₱0.00026 per kilowatt hour (kWh) from October 2019 until the end of the year, which would be lowered to ₱0.00002 per kWh for the entire 2020.
If approved, a household consuming 200 kWh per month can expect a ₱0.052 increase in their monthly bill from October to December 2019 and then a ₱0.004 kWh increase per month for 2020.
The NGCP said it shouldered the repair, restoration and rehabilitation of its substation in Olongapo City following the onslaught of Tropical Depression Josie in 2018 which enhanced the southwest monsoon or “Habagat.”
It said portions of its perimeter wall collapsed, while other portions of it eroded due to flooding. The NGCP added that the substation’s switchyard, transformers and equipment spares were also submerged in flood and was left covered in mud and debris when the waters subsided.
“It must be emphasized that the rehabilitation of the assets damaged by the [force majeure event] required capital infusion, the recovery of which should be allowed immediately in order to avoid any financial strain in the operation of the NGCP and to allow the continuous provision of transmission services to the grid customers,” the NGCP said in its appeal.
The NGCP is a private firm tasked by the government to maintain the national power grid.
