Javi Benitez Questions Additional Electricity Costs Paid by Visayas Consumers
JAVI BENITEZ – Visayas consumers could soon get answers about the additional electricity charges appearing on their power bills as Rep. Javi Benitez pushes for a congressional investigation.
Negros Occidental 3rd District Representative Javier “Javi” Miguel Benitez is calling for an investigation into certain electricity charges being passed on to consumers in the Visayas, particularly those related to ancillary services.
Ancillary services refer to reserve electricity used to help maintain the stability and reliability of the power grid. Benitez raised the issue through House Resolution No. 1430, urging the House Committee on Energy to examine the increase in ancillary services charges reported by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).
According to the report, the nationwide ancillary services rate increased from P0.7941 to P1.0391 per kilowatt-hour for the July 2026 billing period. This represented a 30.85 percent increase, with the additional cost eventually reflected in consumers’ electricity bills for August.
Because NGCP sets separate charges for Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, Benitez wants the specific ancillary services rates imposed on Visayas consumers to be disclosed. He also called for monthly figures covering January to August 2026, noting that consumers have not been provided with these details.
Benitez pointed out that the charges were collected during a period when the Visayas Grid repeatedly experienced red alerts. The grid recorded its first red alert of 2026 on May 13.
On July 8, around 1,092.8 megawatts of capacity became unavailable due to forced outages and deratings. This resulted in manual load dropping in several areas, including Cebu, Mactan, Aklan, Antique, Bohol, Capiz, Guimaras, and Iloilo.
Another red alert occurred on August 26, when 938.9 megawatts of capacity were unavailable. The resolution emphasized that the red alerts experienced by the Visayas Grid in 2026 were primarily caused by generation capacity shortages rather than transmission problems.
The proposed investigation would require NGCP, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), the Department of Energy (DOE), the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines, and concerned generation and ancillary services providers to disclose the charges imposed on Visayas consumers and payments made to individual providers.
It would also examine the reserve capacity requirements, procurement, availability, scheduling, and actual delivery during red-alert periods, including whether charges were imposed because of noncompliance with obligations under the WESM Rules.
“Every centavo of this charge is passed on to the consumer, so every centavo has to be accounted for. If reserves that were paid for were not delivered, the ERC should determine whether refunds or penalties are due,” said Benitez.
The resolution also seeks clear completion timelines for generation, energy storage, and transmission projects, including improvements to the Cebu-Negros-Panay backbone and battery storage systems.
Benitez further wants authorities to determine the causes of delays and examine the extent of solar power production reductions in Negros in 2026.
The committee is expected to recommend measures promoting transparent charges, verifying reserve power delivery, enforcing project deadlines, and determining whether consumer refunds, exclusions of improper costs, or penalties should be imposed.
