VECO Rate per kWh and Appliance Running Costs

Visayan Electric Company serves Cebu City, Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu, Talisay, Liloan, Consolacion and Compostela. Here is the current residential rate, what it means for every appliance in the house, and how it compares with the rest of the country.

The VECO all-in residential rate is ₱13.74 per kWh as of June 2026, which is 7.1 percent below the Meralco rate of ₱14.78. A household using 200 kWh a month would see a bill near ₱2,748.

Any appliance at the VECO rate

Change any box. The result updates as you type.

W
hours
PHP/kWh
Cost per month
Per hour
Per day
Per year
kWh per day

Planning estimate. The rate box is prefilled with a regional average; the figure on your own bill is the one that matters. Power is draw while running, not while switched on.

Why VECO charges what it does

VECO serves Metro Cebu and sits below Meralco but above the Mindanao utilities. Cebu has been under repeated Red and Yellow Alerts as Visayas grid reserves tightened, which pushes spot-market purchases and therefore the generation charge.

The structure is the same everywhere. Generation is 55 to 64 percent of the bill and is bought and passed through without markup. Transmission goes to the grid operator. Distribution is the utility own share. Taxes, universal charges and subsidies go to government. When a bill jumps, generation is almost always the reason.

What appliances cost on VECO

Running costs at the VECO rate of ₱13.74 per kWh
ApplianceWattsPer hourPer monthvs Meralco/yr
1.5HP Aircon1,300 W₱18₱4,287−₱3,960
1HP Aircon900 W₱12₱2,968−₱2,742
Refrigerator150 W₱2₱495−₱457
Electric Fan60 W₱1₱247−₱228
Rice Cooker700 W₱10₱289−₱267
Water Dispenser550 W₱8₱1,360−₱1,257
LED TV60 W₱1₱124−₱114
Shower Water Heater3,500 W₱48₱721−₱666

The final column is the annual difference against running the identical appliance in Meralco territory. Over a household of several appliances that gap compounds into real money, which is why the same lifestyle costs noticeably different amounts in Davao and Manila.

Bill by monthly consumption

Monthly kWhBill at ₱13.74Same usage on Meralco
100 kWh₱1,374₱1,478
200 kWh₱2,748₱2,957
300 kWh₱4,122₱4,435
400 kWh₱5,496₱5,913
500 kWh₱6,870₱7,392
800 kWh₱10,992₱11,827

Solar in the VECO franchise

This area averages roughly 5.2 peak sun hours a day. A 5 kW grid-tied system would produce about 624 kWh a month, worth ₱8,574 at the VECO rate. At installed prices of ₱225,000 to ₱375,000, that puts simple payback around 2.2 to 3.6 years if you consume the output yourself.

Export credits here run near ₱5.00 per kWh rather than the retail rate, so surplus sent back is worth roughly a third of what you save by using it. Size the array to your daytime load rather than your total bill and the payback figure above holds; size it to the bill and it stretches.

Questions people actually ask

Magkano ang kuryente sa VECO?
Humigit-kumulang ₱13.74 kada kWh noong June 2026. Nagbabago ito buwan-buwan dahil sa generation charge, kaya tingnan ang aktwal na bill mo.
Is VECO cheaper than Meralco?
Yes. At ₱13.74 it is 7.1 percent below the Meralco rate, which over a year is a meaningful difference on an identical household.
Why did my VECO bill increase?
Almost always the generation charge, which is repriced monthly against fuel costs, the peso-dollar rate and the wholesale spot market. The second most common cause is simply more cooling hours during the dry season.
Does the lifeline discount apply here?
Yes. The national lifeline threshold applies to every distribution utility. Households consuming 50 kWh or less receive a full discount, 51 to 70 kWh receive 35 percent, and 71 to 100 kWh receive 20 percent, applied automatically.

Related