Philippine Electricity Rates by Utility

What 102 distribution utilities charge residential customers per kilowatt-hour — from Meralco and VECO to the Pampanga and Batangas cooperatives. Every figure is dated and sourced.

Rates & prices last verified: 2026-09

How to read this: most rows come from PRESYO-PH, the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities' tracker, which applies one standardised calculation across every reporting utility so the numbers are genuinely comparable. Meralco and Davao Light carry their own latest monthly advisory instead — those are the figures the utilities announced and that customers see on their bills. Each row shows its own month, so you always know what you're comparing.

The spread is enormous

₱18.32 at FICELCO against ₱5.14 at LASURECO — the same kilowatt-hour costs more than three times as much depending on which franchise area your house sits in. Off-grid islands running on diesel sit at the top; utilities with cheap contracted supply sit at the bottom. Metro Manila is not the most expensive place to buy electricity in the Philippines, which surprises most people.

Pampanga is a useful case study

Four utilities serve one province at four different prices: Angeles Electric at ₱13.42, SFELAPCO at ₱13.40, then PELCO III, II and I at ₱11.56, ₱11.08 and ₱10.90. Same province, same grid, a ₱2.50 spread. Your address, not your habits, sets your starting point — which is why the only lever most households actually control is consumption, or making their own power.

What your rate means in pesos

Every ₱1/kWh of difference is worth about ₱345 a month to a household using 345 kWh — a typical one-aircon home. Put your utility's rate and your real appliances into the appliance electricity calculator — all 102 utilities above are built in as presets — or see what it takes to generate your own daytime power at those prices.

Frequently asked questions

Can I switch to a cheaper electricity provider?

For homes, no — each distribution utility holds an exclusive franchise for its area, so your address decides your provider. Retail choice (RCOA) only applies to large "contestable" customers with demand of 500 kW and up. What you can control is consumption, and — increasingly — generating your own daytime power with rooftop solar.

Why do rates differ so much between utilities?

Each utility buys power under its own contracts and its own exposure to the wholesale spot market (WESM), then passes generation costs through at cost. Scale matters too: big urban utilities spread fixed costs over far more customers than a small island cooperative. The spread is wide — ₱18.32/kWh at FICELCO versus ₱5.14/kWh at LASURECO.

Which rate should I use in the calculators?

Use your own utility's rate from the table — our appliance calculator has all of these built in as presets. If your co-op is not listed, your bill shows your effective rate: divide the total amount due by the kWh consumed.

Why do some rows show a different month?

Most rows come from ICSC's PRESYO-PH tracker, which applies one standardised calculation across every reporting utility so they are genuinely comparable. Meralco and Davao Light carry their own latest monthly advisory instead, because those are the figures those utilities announced and that customers see on their bills. Every row shows its own month so you always know what you are comparing.

Related

• Meralco rate history and breakdown
• How to read every line of your bill
• What's a normal electric bill?

Cite freely with attribution and a link — sources for every figure are in the table and on the methodology page. Served by a utility we don't list yet? Tell us which one and we'll add it.