Throughout summer months, the country’s electricity consumers will have to brace for double whammy of price spikes and power supply interruptions.

For Luzon consumers, the dilemma will be more on electricity rate increases starting March due to the twin impact of higher cost fuel that will be utilized to run the plants and the approval of the automatic generation charge adjustment of state-run National Power Corporation.

Visayas and Mindanao, on the other hand, will be suffering from worsened power supply interruptions as reserve would still be critical in the coming weeks. The NPC’s automatic adjustment will likewise impact on their electricity bills.

During a stakeholders meeting at the Department of Energy (DoE), Energy Secretary Angelo T. Reyes has not allowed media yet to get a glimpse of how supply situation in the critical Visayas and Mindanao grids will shape, especially during the election period when poll cheating is feared due to power outages.

Back to Luzon grid, during the scheduled 30-day shutdown of the Malampaya gas production facility starting February 8, natural gas plants will be using condensate fuel (in the case of the First Gas plants) and diesel for Ilijan facility.

First Gen vice president Victor Santos indicated that both the Sta. Rita and San Lorenzo plants will be running at full capacity, yet the naturally-occurring consequence of the utilization of condensate fuel will be higher rates. The more important thing, it was noted, is that power supply for the largest distribution utility Manila Electric Company (Meralco) will be assured during the critical months.

Meralco vice president for energy management Nixon Hao though qualified that it remains to be seen what would be the actual impact depending on how trading at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) will figure out in the coming weeks.

In an interview with ERC executive director Francis Saturnino Juan, he indicated the possibility of higher rates in the coming months because of the power generators’ assumptions that most of the plants running starting this month are those with considerably-pricey fuels, like diesel and fuel oil