The Bohol Light Company Inc. (BLCI) informs the public that the power rates may hike in the range of 70 to 90% as consumers of the distribution utility are getting electricity from more expensive sources.
Sheryl Paga, spokesperson of BLCI, in a telephone interview the final
rate increase will not be known until the middle of February 2022,
but the estimate rate increase is from 70% to 90%.
Paga added that BLCI charged P10.38 per kilowatt hour, for residential consumers before the typhoon hit Bohol in Dec. 2021.
She said BLCI consumers should be conscious about their consumption as surely their bills will be more expensive than before.
The BLCI consumers who have electricity get their power from the Power Barge 104 and the Bohol Diesel Power Plant (BDPP)’in Dampas.
She explained that the power barge and BDPPare using bunker fuel
which is more expensive than the geothermal power, which is the usual source of electricity in Bohol.
In normal times, Bohol’s source of electricity is the geothermal plants in Tongonan, Leyte, which is delivered to Bohol via submarine cables and lines provided by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).
Bohol is forced to get its power from expensive sources because the structures that link the lines coming from Leyte to Bohol were destroyed during the onslaught of typhoon Odette.
The NGCP is currently building temporary structures that will serve as links between Leyte and Bohol, as the erection of permanent structures takes time, according to Betty Martinez in a separate phone interview.
Martinez also disclosed that the NGCP was able to finish a stringing activity related to the erection of the temporary structure on Jan. 26, 2022.
She said the NGCP hopes to finish the erection of the temporary structures by middle of February 2022, so that Bohol can finally draw power from geothermal plants in Leyte, which is more cheaper than the electricity provided by the power barge and the BDPP.