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Philippines electricity rate highest in Asia

Discussion in 'News and Weather' started by DavyL200, Feb 7, 2018.

  1. DavyL200

    DavyL200 DI Forum Luminary ★ Global Mod ★ ★ Moderator ★ Highly Rated Poster Showcase Reviewer

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    WHEN a Department of Energy (DOE) report in 2016 said that the household electricity rate in the Philippines is the highest in Southeast Asia at P8.90 per kilowatt/hour, it only takes a glance at the monthly electricity bill to realize that Filipinos families are indeed burdened by high power cost.

    In the last few weeks, officials at the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) were suspended for alleged corruption. But while a moral necessity, the crackdown doesn’t have a profound impact in lowering household electricity bills. So, what could?

    It doesn’t take a genius to know why we have high electricity expense. It’s on the bill itself. It’s loaded heavy with pass-on costs.

    We pay power generators the generation charge. We pay the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines the transmission charge, which is the cost of transporting electricity from power generators to power distributors like Meralco. We pay power retailers the distribution charge, or the transport of electricity from the transmission system to the households, business establishments, factories and offices
    Don’t pass the buck | Concept News Central
     
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  2. RR_biker

    RR_biker DI Senior Member Veteran Marines

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    When I had a look on my Noreco bill, December 2016, the Kwh price was indeed 8,9 peso. In the meantime I simply notice that the Kwh price has increased to 12,04 according to my Noreco bill for the period November/December.
    Curious what will be the outcome of my first 2018 bill. Have to admit they are genius inventing the most remarkable names for all kind of added services etc.
     
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  3. Rye83

    Rye83 with pastrami Admin Secured Account Highly Rated Poster SC Connoisseur Veteran Army

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    Wouldn't all these charges be passed down to the customer even if they weren't listed on the bill? Companies don't normally eat these kinds of charges. I think some better questions would be:
    What taxes and minimum fees does the government have in place? How much profit are co-ops making? What are the salaries of the higher-ups? Is the sh*t infrastructure the distributors vomit out on to poles cause higher prices? Does living in an island nation cause higher than normal power production and infrastructure costs?
     
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  4. Brian Oinks

    Brian Oinks That's Mr. Pig to you Boy! :) Highly Rated Poster

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    I am very happy with the prices charged here in the Philippines.
    Back in Australia my Electricity consumption equated to around $1,400.00 per Quarter
    ($466.66 AUD = 18,772.62 PHP per Month)

    Here my Electricity per Month is 1800/2000php

    Here I have a larger 42" Flatscreen TV - I had an older 68cm CRT type TV in Oz
    Here I have a Fridge & separate Freezer - I had a Pigeon Pair Fridge-Freezer Combo in Oz
    Here I have a Pedestal Fan - I had a Ceiling Fan in Oz
    Here I have a Desktop PC - I had the same in Oz
    Here I have a Gas Stove - I had an Electric Stove in Oz (Gas = approx. 800php every 3 Mths)
    Here I do not have a Hot water system - I had a 120L Hot water system in Oz
    Here I do not own a Washing Machine - I had a new small Automatic in Oz I used weekly
    Here I do not have Air-con - I did not have Air-con in Oz

    There is not much else I can think of except;
    I WISH I had had Electricity Bills like here in Australia!
    Yes; I am very happy with my Monthly Electricity Bill here... :smile:

    *EDIT:
    I did a quick search on prices in Australia, a bit hard to find but I did find this online;
    Electricity KWH Charges
    Peak: $0.53911 AUD = 21.6972PHP
    Off Peak: $0.15191 AUD = 6.11381PHP
    (Using RedEnergey Page)
     
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  5. Plainspoken

    Plainspoken DI Forum Adept

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    Everyone thinks that way. "Well, all this stuff has to be paid in the end by the consumer anyway." True, but there is a reason to separate the charges. I used to use these methods myself when I was in business in the US. The reason it is better to have a dozen charges to pass on is because the margin, or percentage on a single charge, would have to be low. The average person/regulator would say, since electricity is regulated, ok, let them make 15 per cent on the electricity itself, although it is probably much lower. On a hundred dollars, that is fifteen bucks. If you take another hundred in revenue and you cut it into 14 or 16 pieces with fees and services, you can make much more money. The electricity price is closely watched. But what about the billing charge, or line fee, or terminal charge, or whatever they can make up to charge a small amount for? It needs to be small so the focus stays on the price of the electricity. Most really small charges in any business will be at a price that yields very few dollars but yields a very high profit percentage. For example, a "Billing Charge" might be 40 pesos. Ok, 40 pesos is cheap, but it may only cost 10 pesos to produce the bill, so the profit margin is 75 percent. If one does that low dollar high percentage philosophy with a large enough number of items, it adds up and the profit can go much higher without raising any eyebrows with the regulators or anyone else. As I said, I used to use these tactics myself in business. In the ordinary USA business world it used to be called "Menu Pricing" and the profit percentage is higher with the combined small segments than what can be made with a flat price that includes all services. There are other methods that the oligarchy here is using too, but I won't bore you with any more. Don't forget that this economy is run by the Chinese, or at least Chinoy, and there are no better business people on the planet. I can attest to the fact that they have really sharp teeth. They never left me dead from a deal but they sure made me bleed.
     
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    Last edited: Feb 8, 2018
  6. jimeve

    jimeve DI Forum Luminary Highly Rated Poster Showcase Reviewer Veteran Army

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    I was paying about the same price in the UK as I am here, the same appliance's but here I have extra lights about 20x more and I think my neighbors are using my meter too
     
  7. Rye83

    Rye83 with pastrami Admin Secured Account Highly Rated Poster SC Connoisseur Veteran Army

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    I haven't paid an electricity bill in the US for almost a decade but I don't recall ever being taken back by the cost like I was when I got the bill in the Philippines (I didn't even use air-conditioning in Philippines...while I used central air/heating plus a lot of electrical appliances in the US). Google tells me that the average American pays about 11 cents/kWh. (about P5.67). Of course that is average. The US is a big country and prices are going to depend on where you are living.

    If my math is right, electricity is about 57% more expensive in the Philippines than in the US. Sad! MPGA!
     
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  8. OP
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    DavyL200

    DavyL200 DI Forum Luminary ★ Global Mod ★ ★ Moderator ★ Highly Rated Poster Showcase Reviewer

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    And in the western world wages are far higher and the elec prices are excepted. Her the averge wage is far far lower so how does this compare?
     
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  9. Plainspoken

    Plainspoken DI Forum Adept

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    It forces the poor to not use electricity any more than absolutely necessary. My wife's house is in Tabunok, Cebu and her mother lives in the same area. A lot of people there use candles to keep the electric bill down. It is a poor area with a poorer area behind it. They had a fire in the poorer section behind them 2 years ago that burned 100 homes. They had one a month or so ago that burned 87 homes. The last one I know for a fact was caused by a candle.
     
  10. Show Pony

    Show Pony DI Forum Patron Highly Rated Poster Showcase Reviewer

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    That has been known to happen. Just wait until night, switch off the breaker just after your meter. If their lights go out.....well you know.

    Candles are a lot more expensive than an LED light bulb. I guessing the cost of a candle is about 5 pesos and will burn for 30 minutes. A 10 watt LED bulb will go about 50 hours for 5 pesos.
     
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