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Brix Lelis - The Philippine Star
June 4, 2025 | 12:00am
System-wide WESM rates declined by 11.2 percent to P4.01 per kilowatt-hour from P4.52 per kWh on a monthly basis, according to the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines.
Philstar.com / File Photo
MANILA, Philippines — The average price in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) dropped again in May as ample supply outweighed the surge in demand caused by extreme heat.
System-wide WESM rates declined by 11.2 percent to P4.01 per kilowatt-hour from P4.52 per kWh on a monthly basis, according to the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines.
IEMOP corporate planning and communications manager Arjon Valencia yesterday said the decline was due to a higher supply margin.
For the period covering April 26 to May 25, overall supply inched up by 4.1 percent to 22,218 megawatts from 21,345 MW.
Similarly, demand grew by 2.9 percent to 15,169 MW in May from the previous month’s 14,739 MW, driven by hotter temperatures during the billing period.
This supply-demand condition, Valencia said, resulted in a margin of 4,945 MW, a notable improvement from April’s 4,585 MW.
Operated by IEMOP, WESM is the centralized venue for buying and selling electricity as a commodity where prices are determined by supply and demand.
By region, spot prices in the country’s major island groups all went down, with per-kWh rates in Luzon slipping by 7.9 percent to P4.23, Visayas by 17.9 percent to P3.71 and Mindanao by 24.3 percent to P3.11.
In Luzon, supply improved by 4.1 percent to 15,620 MW from 15,000 MW, while demand rose by 3.6 percent to 10,993 MW from 10,613 MW.
The Visayas grid was also stable as supply was higher by four percent, to 2,664 MW from 2,563 MW, enough to offset the 3.5-percent uptick in demand to 2,078 MW from 2,009 MW.
As for Mindanao, supply likewise went up by four percent to 3,934 MW from 3,782 MW, while demand edged 0.9-percent lower to 2,098 MW from 2,118 MW.
In terms of power generation, coal accounted for 59.9 percent of the total output, with renewable energy only contributing 22 percent.
Natural gas and oil-based facilities, meanwhile, made up 17 percent and 0.4 percent of the total generation, respectively.
