ILOILO CITY — The power utility in the island province of Guimaras denied that it charges the highest electricity rate.
“These irresponsible and unfair accusations against them are part of the tactics of some personalities to advance their political agenda,” said the Guimaras Electric Cooperative (GUIMELCO) in a statement.
This was after lawyer Vicente de Asis, a former vice governor, said in a radio interview that GUIMELCO is charging the highest rate in the “planet”.
Citing the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), GUIMELCO pointed out that its power rate is within the median range for power distributors in the country.
For August 2021, it was charging is P9.9694 per kilowatt hour (kWh) for residential consumers with and P8.5223/kWh during low voltage.
GUIMELCO also added that it has not charged consumers more than P13/kWh for the last five years.
The power distributor also explained that it has no control of the generation charge because it is the power generators that determine the cost.
GUIMELCO also noted that it is not to be blamed that Guimaras residents are not benefiting from a 54-megawatt wind farm in San Lorenzo town. It is because ERC has decided that the wind turbines generate power for other Visayan islands and distributed via the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).