Malampaya gas fields.
MANILA electric company (Meralco) announced Friday for higher electricity bills this November.
In an advisory, Meralco said it hiked the electricity rate for a typical household by P0.3256 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), bringing the overall rate to P9.4630 per kWh in November from October’s rate of P9.1374 per kWh “due to higher generation charge.”
The increment translates to an increase of around P65.12 in the total bill of a residential customer consuming 200 kWh, P97.68 for customers consuming 300 kWh, and P162.6 for those consuming 500 kWh of electricity.
Meralco said higher costs due to the Malampaya shutdown triggered the increase in generation charge.
This is the eighth straight month that Meralco upwardly adjusted its household power rates.
In particular, the power distributor said the November generation charge went up by P0.2911 per kWh to P5.3346 per kWh from P5.0435 per kWh the previous month “as a result of the Malampaya natural gas facility shutdown.”
“The shutdown resulted in higher costs of power from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) and Independent Power Producers (IPPs),” it said.
The Malampaya facility maintenance shutdown from October 2 to 25 resulted in lesser available supply in the WESM, according to Meralco.
The company added that the tight supply condition in the Luzon grid led to sustained high prices in the WESM and triggered the secondary price cap on September 30, October 1, 21, and 22, or 8.39% of the October supply month.
The Luzon grid was also put on yellow alert on October 20 due to forced outages of several power plants.
“As a result, WESM charges went up by P1.7073 per kWh,” Meralco said.
Likewise, charges from IPPs increased by P0.8186 per kWh.
“To ensure continuous power supply and to avoid rotating power interruptions, First Gas-Sta. Rita and San Lorenzo plants shifted to more expensive alternative fuel during the 24-day Malampaya shutdown,” the power distributor said.
Meralco said charges from power supply agreements (PSAs), meanwhile, went down by P0.2841 per kWh mainly due to higher excess energy deliveries, which are priced at a discount, from AC Energy, First Gen Hydro Power, San Miguel Energy and South Premiere Power.
The new PSA of Meralco with the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM) also contributed to the decrease in the PSA rate.
