The Philippines posted the highest electricity rates among member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in June, driven by tight power supply and increased electricity demand, according to the Department of Energy (DOE).
DOE Undersecretary Rowena Cristina Guevara said electricity prices reached ₱12.43 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in June, ₱0.093 per kWh higher than Singapore’s rates, making the Philippines the most expensive in the region.
Guevara attributed the high rates largely to power supply constraints in the Visayas, where 21 power plants were under forced outage, leaving the region heavily dependent on electricity imported from Luzon and Mindanao.
“The Visayas has the highest electricity prices because of insufficient power supply. With 21 plants on forced outage, the region relies on imported power from Luzon and Mindanao,” Guevara said during a virtual briefing.
She added that the Visayas grid remained under yellow alert for several days in June, indicating that the operating reserve had fallen below the required contingency level. The situation was primarily caused by the prolonged outages of several major coal-fired power plants, including Therma Visayas Inc. (TVI) Units 1 and 2 and Panay Energy Development Corp. (PEDC).
Guevara also cited higher electricity demand during the summer months as another factor behind the rising prices.
“We had to dispatch more expensive power plants to meet demand and avoid blackouts,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) increased its residential electricity rate by ₱0.1488 per kWh in June, raising the overall rate to ₱14.4833 per kWh from ₱14.3345 per kWh in May. The adjustment translates to an additional ₱29.76 in the monthly bill of a typical household consuming 200 kWh.
For July, Meralco imposed another ₱0.3428 per kWh increase, bringing the overall residential rate to ₱14.8621 per kWh. As a result, a household consuming 200 kWh is expected to pay about ₱69 more on its monthly electricity bill.
