DAVAO CITY – An additional increase in electricity rate may be implemented within the franchise area of the Aboitiz-led Davao Light and Power Co. (DLPC) starting this month due to the effect of El the Niño phenomenon.

Fermin Edillon, head of the Reputation Enhancement Department of DLPC, said during Kapihan sa Philippine Information Agency (PIA) on Friday that their franchise area might still continue to feel the adverse impact of the drought that reduced the generating capacity of the hydropower plants in the previous weeks.
He said that DLPC will announce the new rate next week.
Edillon said DLPC’s franchise area covers Davao City and Panabo City and the municipalities of Carmen, Braulio E. Dujali, and Santo Tomas in Davao del Norte. It has around 480,000 customers.
He said that the hydropower plants were affected by El Niño which decreased water levels of the rivers.
Edillon said that the company anticipates that the power rates will start to normalize next month as the country experiences frequent rain.
He said that the DLPC’s renewable sources are hydropower and geothermal, which are cheaper compared with non-renewable sources.
Edillon said the DLPC has implemented a P0.14 per kilowatt hour (kWh) increase in April and P1.63 in May, which brought the power rates to P9.13 per kWh and P10.76 per kWh, respectively.
He added that the increase is also driven by the spike in the higher demand for power.
Edillon said even with the increase, the power rate of DLPC remains to be one of the lowest in Mindanao.
He said that the rising heat index forced several of its consumers to use airconditioning units and electric fans to cool off. “Considering that almost all of us are using electricity, demand also increases,” he said.
Edillon added that DLPC recorded a demand of 542 megawatts (MW) in April, the highest peak demand in the “history of Davao Light.”
He said that the power supply of Mindanao remains stable but consumers may feel more costly electricity bills as the demand surges.
The whole of Mindanao has a total available generating capacity of 3,302 megawatts (MW) and a system peak demand of 2,421 MW as of 12 noon on Friday, June 14, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) said.