Visayan Electric secures ERC approval to reduce July rate impact on consumers
- 4 days ago
- 2 min read
CEBU CITY, Philippines — July 18, 2026 — Visayan Electric took urgent steps to protect consumers from a sharp rise in generation costs that threatened to push July 2026 residential rates to ₱17.59/kWh, up from ₱13.74/kWh in June. By actively coordinating with the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to defer a portion of these costs, the utility successfully capped the rate at ₱14.90/kWh, effectively reducing the immediate increase by nearly 70 percent through the ERC-approved deferment.
“We are not simply passing these costs through to the consumer,” said Mark Anthony B. Kindica, Visayan Electric President and General Manager. “We are proactively engaging the ERC for cost deferment, securing immediate supply agreements with generators, and accelerating our shift to stable, long-term power sources to minimize the burden on our customers.”
Since February, a sequence of market and supply shocks has driven up generation costs across the Visayas Grid: higher transmission charges, global fuel price increases tied to Middle East market disruption, summer peak demand straining thin reserves, and surging WESM prices as generation shortfalls forced costlier spot-market purchases. In early July, a Red Alert and over 1,000 MW of unavailable generating capacity intensified the strain, pushing generation charges — the largest component of a customer’s bill — to a year-high ₱11.00/kWh.
To limit the impact on customers, Visayan Electric:
Pursued cost deferment with the ERC to lower the rate passed to consumers
Invited generators into Emergency Power Supply Agreements (EPSA) for immediate supply.
Launched a Competitive Selection Process (CSP) this month for more stable supply starting next year.
For a household consuming 200 kWh, the deferred rate adds an estimated ₱232 to the bill this cycle, versus ₱770 without intervention by the utility.
Beyond mitigating rate increases, the company continues to coordinate with the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), the Department of Energy (DOE), the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP) and the ERC to protect supply reliability and consumer interests. Visayan Electric encourages customers to conserve energy during peak hours (1–4 p.m. and 6–9 p.m.) to help manage their bills.
About Visayan Electric
Visayan Electric Company, Inc. is the largest private electric distribution utility in the Visayas, serving Metro Cebu and neighboring municipalities. It is a member of the Aboitiz Power Distribution Utilities (APDU) group, which includes Davao Light, Cotabato Light, and the EnerZone group of utilities. Visayan Electric is committed to delivering safe, reliable, and reasonably priced electricity to its franchise areas.
