Mindanao - In a move to shed light on the significant increase in ancillary services charges billed to its direct customers, power system operator and transmission utility National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) has been holding dialogues with its direct customers in Mindanao to fully explain the dynamics of its billing and charging procedures.
NGCP bills and collects ancillary services charges from its direct customers then remits these collections to the ancillary services provider per an Ancillary Services Procurement Agreement (ASPA) approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC). As the collecting agent, NGCP does not get revenues from the said fees.
Transmission rates per se have remained stable in the past few months. Charges for ancillary services, on the other hand, have increased from P77/kW in December 2009 when the supplying power barges were still owned by the National Power Corp. (NPC) to around P607/kW in April 2010.
Ancillary services charges in Mindanao are based on prevailing world market prices for fuel used in running the power barges which supply the ancillary services. The charges are not subsidized anymore by the government and thus reflect the true cost of electricity per current market forces.
NGCP reiterates that its billing computation and collection for these ancillary services remitted to the ancillary services provider have been duly approved by the regulatory body. Power customers in the Luzon and Visayas grids likewise pay for their own ancillary services per separate ASPAs approved by the ERC.
Ancillary services refer to power supplier-driven services that are necessary to support the transmission of electricity from power resources to load customers and to maintain the reliability of power services.
NGCP’s direct customers are these load customers which include distribution utilities (private utilities, electric cooperatives, government-owned utilities, ecozones), and large industries, government and non-government companies directly connected to the grid.
Amidst the ordinary power customers’ growing concern over the increase in power charges to be recovered by the distribution utilities and electric cooperatives serving their area, widespread power interruptions lasting from 4 to 9 hours daily continue to be experienced in Mindanao. These outages are attributed to a “generation deficiency” or lack of power supply generated by plants. If the ancillary services provider’s power barges are not connected to the grid, outages are estimated to last for a minimum of 9 hours daily in Mindanao.
NGCP bills and collects ancillary services charges from its direct customers then remits these collections to the ancillary services provider per an Ancillary Services Procurement Agreement (ASPA) approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC). As the collecting agent, NGCP does not get revenues from the said fees.
Transmission rates per se have remained stable in the past few months. Charges for ancillary services, on the other hand, have increased from P77/kW in December 2009 when the supplying power barges were still owned by the National Power Corp. (NPC) to around P607/kW in April 2010.
Ancillary services charges in Mindanao are based on prevailing world market prices for fuel used in running the power barges which supply the ancillary services. The charges are not subsidized anymore by the government and thus reflect the true cost of electricity per current market forces.
NGCP reiterates that its billing computation and collection for these ancillary services remitted to the ancillary services provider have been duly approved by the regulatory body. Power customers in the Luzon and Visayas grids likewise pay for their own ancillary services per separate ASPAs approved by the ERC.
Ancillary services refer to power supplier-driven services that are necessary to support the transmission of electricity from power resources to load customers and to maintain the reliability of power services.
NGCP’s direct customers are these load customers which include distribution utilities (private utilities, electric cooperatives, government-owned utilities, ecozones), and large industries, government and non-government companies directly connected to the grid.
Amidst the ordinary power customers’ growing concern over the increase in power charges to be recovered by the distribution utilities and electric cooperatives serving their area, widespread power interruptions lasting from 4 to 9 hours daily continue to be experienced in Mindanao. These outages are attributed to a “generation deficiency” or lack of power supply generated by plants. If the ancillary services provider’s power barges are not connected to the grid, outages are estimated to last for a minimum of 9 hours daily in Mindanao.
pjtremedal@gmail.com website:www.onlinemindanao.tk 2010
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