After Bohol Light Company Inc. (BLCI) cut down its power rates in the past consecutive months, Tagbilaran City households and commercial establishments will be paying less compared to other electric consumers in the Visayas and Mindanao.

As Bohol Light implements another rollback of its rates this month, January 2024, city residential consumers will now be paying P10.48 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), or a decrease of P1.05 / kWh from the December 2023 bill, while commercial consumers will now be charged P10.13 / kWh, or a reduction of P1.09 / kWh.

Translating the reduced rates into savings through sample computations, a residential customer who consumes 200 kWh of electricity will save P210.00 in this month’s bill, while a commercial customer with an average consumption of 1,000 kWh will save about P10,013.00.

Bohol Light Regulatory Compliance Officer Sheryl Paga said their continued drop in power rates is due to the decrease in generation charges of power producers, lower fuel prices which is a major cost component in electricity production, as well as Bohol Light’s reduced exposure to the spot market.

LOWEST IN VISAYAS AND MINDANAO

Contrary to some observations, Bohol Light is actually charging its consumers lower when compared against other power distribution utilities (DUs) and electric cooperatives (ECs) in the Visayas region, and even in Mindanao.

A cursory comparison of rates being charged by other DUs and ECs across the Visayas and Mindanao would show Bohol Light customers being charged with more affordable rates than electric consumers of other provinces and cities:

For example, Visayan Electric Company (VECO), the second largest electric utility in the country serving the cities of Cebu, Mandaue, Talisay and Naga, including 4 municipalities of Metro Cebu – Liloan, Consolacion, Minglanilla and San Fernando, is currently charging its residential consumers P11.62 /kWh, or P1.14 higher than Bohol Light, while commercial customers are paying P10.92 /kWh, which is higher by P0.79.

Locally, BOHECO 1 rates are P11.23 /kWh for residential, and P10.13 /kWh for commercial. Meanwhile BOHECO 2 charges its residential consumers by P10.32 /kWh.

Here are other comparative rates:

–          CEBECO 1 (Cebu) – P10.61 /kWh (residential)

–          LEYECO IV (Leyte – Ormoc) – P12.33 /kWh (residential); P11.04 /kWh (commercial)

–          SAMELCO II (Samar) – P12.86 /kWh (residential); P11.55 /kWh (commercial)

–          DORELCO (Leyte) – P13.76 /kWh

–          NORECO 2 (Negros Oriental – Dumaguete) – P11.97 /kWh (residential), P11.12 /kWh (commercial)

–          CENECO (Central Negros – Bacolod City) – P10.83 /kWh (residential), P10.36 /kWh (commercial)

–          ANECO (Agusan del Norte – Butuan City) – P11.48 /kWh (residential), P10.05 /kWh (commercial)

Even though there is a marked decrease in power rates, Bohol Light continue to encourage its customers to observe energy conservation and be efficient in managing their electricity consumption. (Kit Bagaipo)