Manila: Wholesale electricity prices in the spot market went down in July due to lower demand, with an official of the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP) expressing hope that this will continue.
According to Philippines News Agency, IEMOP vice president for trading operations, Engineer Isidro Cacho Jr. attributed the lower demand to improvement in weather conditions, with temperatures declining compared to the summer months. He noted that the drop in prices is particularly significant in the Visayas, which experienced yellow and red alerts during the summer months due to increased demand and supply issues.
Cacho explained, 'Consistent with seasonal demand patterns during rainy months, we are observing a decline in the system demand, while generation availability improved in parts of the Visayas, contributing to lower market prices. If current supply, demand, and transmission conditions continue, market prices may remain relatively moderate.' However, he pointed out that 'actual market outcomes will continue to depend on generation availability, electricity demand, and overall system conditions.'
IEMOP data presented during the briefing showed that average demand for the July 2026 billing period reached 14,936 megawatts (MW), 3.4 percent lower than the 15,454 MW in the previous month. Supply also decreased by around 2.6 percent to approximately 20,587 MW from the previous month's 21,133 MW.
This resulted in a drop in the average wholesale price by around 13.1 percent to approximately PHP8.31 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) from PHP9.56/kWh in the June 2026 billing period, although the rate varies per grid. The Visayas grid posted the highest drop at 21.9 percent to PHP11.20/kWh from PHP14.45/kWh last month. Mindanao followed with an 18.5 percent decline to PHP10.39/kWh from the previous month's PHP12.75/kWh, and Luzon saw a decrease of 8.2 percent to PHP7.30/kWh from PHP7.95/kWh in June.
Cacho said this improvement is expected as the rainy season comes. For the Visayas grid, in particular, he cited the lesser days of yellow alerts as demand declines, which he sees continuing and being supported by the return of more power plants to operation. He mentioned that elevated electricity prices in the Visayas are expected for this month, 'but we expect that as supply level improves, it will go down to a single digit.'
