TACLOBAN CITY — Electricity consumers of Leyte II Electric Cooperative (Leyeco II) will face a higher power rate this September, with the effective residential rate increasing by P2.4353 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) from the cooperative’s July 2026 rate amid higher generation costs and tight power supply in the Visayas grid.
Leyeco II said its effective residential power rate for the September 2026 billing month is P14.0488 per kWh, exclusive of value-added tax.
The cooperative attributed the increase mainly to higher generation system charges, a pass-through cost covering electricity purchased from power suppliers and generation companies.
According to Leyeco II, generation costs were driven higher by increased prices at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) and higher Line Loss and Congestion Charges (LLCC).
The cooperative said the Visayas Grid experienced power supply shortages during the period due to several power plants being temporarily shut down, while others operated at reduced or derated capacities.
The limited power supply resulted in Red and Yellow Alert notices issued by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), the transmission service provider and system operator of the Philippine power grid.
The supply situation also led to the implementation of Manual Load Dropping (MLD), or rotational brownouts, in areas served by Leyeco II in recent weeks.
Leyeco II emphasized that the generation charge is a pass-through cost and is not retained as part of the cooperative’s distribution revenues.
Meanwhile, the cooperative’s Distribution, Supply and Metering (DSM) charges remain at P1.1866 per kWh, a rate that has been unchanged since 2010.
Leyeco II said the DSM charge covers the cooperative’s distribution revenues despite continuing investments in system improvements and increasing costs associated with providing reliable and efficient electricity services.
The higher September rate comes as power distributors across the Visayas continue to deal with supply constraints and fluctuations in electricity generation costs.
Leyeco II serves more than 96,600 member-consumer-owners in Tacloban City and the municipalities of Palo and Babatngon in Leyte.
(JOEY A. GABIETA)
