Baguio city: More than 250,000 consumers of the Benguet Electric Cooperative (BENECO) will see lower electricity bills this September after the cooperative announced a rate reduction of PHP1.62 per kilowatt hour (kWh). BENECO General Manager, engineer Melchor Licoben, stated that the decrease is due to lower generation charges and the removal of certain billing components, including the Incremental Currency Exchange Rate Adjustment (ICERA), the Generation Rate Adjustment Mechanism (GRAM), and their corresponding value-added taxes.

According to Philippines News Agency, the generation charge dropped by PHP1.1214/kWh, while the ICERA, GRAM, and their VAT charges amounting to PHP0.3714/kWh were discontinued. With the adjustment, residential consumers using 100 kWh per month will save about PHP162.86, while those consuming 200 kWh can expect to cut their bills by roughly PHP325.72.

September's rate of PHP8.25/kWh is the lowest since 2022 and significantly lower than August's PHP9.8809/kWh. Licoben mentioned that generation charges account for 60 to 65 percent of a household's monthly bill. He added that BENECO continues to monitor market trends and work actively in the electricity spot market to secure competitive rates for consumers.