THE Manila Electric Company (Meralco) announced a rate increase of P0.6232 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) this January.
The increase, which brings Meralco’s overall rate to P10.9001/kWh, means a typical household consuming 200 kWh/month will have to pay P125 extra.
The firm said the adjustment was necessary as its generation charge had gone up by P0.3316 to P7.1291/kWh.
Independent power producer (IPP) charges rose by P0.4070/kWh, it explained, mainly “due to the increased use of more expensive alternative fuel by First Gas Sta. Rita and San Lorenzo as a result of insufficient supply of Malampaya natural gas”.
At the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), meanwhile, charges also increased by P0.6808/kWh as higher average generation capacity outages more than offset a decrease in power demand.
The share of power from the WESM inched up to nine percent from seven percent in December following the suspension of a 670-megawatt (MW) power supply agreement (PSA) with South Premiere Power Corp. Meralco executed an emergency PSA with GNPower Dinginin Ltd. for 300 MW but had to source the remaining shortfall from the WESM.
“Further contributing to this month’s overall rate increase is the completion of a distribution-related refund equivalent to P0.2761 per kWh for residential customers,” Meralco said.
Two ongoing refunds totaling P1.0579/kWh for residential customers are still being implemented by Meralco and continue to temper customers’ monthly bills. These refunds are expected to be completed this month and May 2023.
Lastly, the transmission charge for residential customers went down by P0.0314/kWh due to lower ancillary service charges. Taxes and other charges registered an upward adjustment of P0.0469/kWh.
