Meralco power rates slightly up anew in March

MANILA, Philippines — The Manila Electric Company (Meralco) will implement another power rate hike this month, the country's largest electric power distribution company said on Friday.

This would be the electricity concessionaire’s third consecutive power rate uptick this year. 

Meralco said it will slightly increase power rates by P0.0229 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), which brings the overall rate for a household to P11.9397 per kWh this month, coming from P11.9168 in February.

According to the firm, this adjustment will cause an increase of less than P5 in the total electricity bill of a customer consuming 200 kWh.

The electricity concessionaire attributed the increase in power rates to the P0.3976 per kWh increase in the transmission charge for residential customers due to higher ancillary service charges. 

The rise was offset by a decrease in the generation charge by P0.3518 per kWh.

The decrease in charges from Power Supply Agreements (PSAs) by P0.3045 per kWh was primarily due to the reduced energy payments for the South Premier Power Corp emergency PSAs and the San Buenaventura Power Ltd. Co. power plant's resumption of operations following scheduled maintenance.

Meanwhile, charges from Independent Power Producers (IPPs) had a markdown of P0.1443 per kWh. 

This is because of the gradual reduction of gas costs from Malampaya for First Gas Power Corporation–Sta. Rita under its new Gas Sale and Purchase Agreement, as mandated by the Energy Regulatory Commission.

Meanwhile, charges from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) declined by  P0.1131 per kWh.

For Meralco’s total energy requirement during the period, PSAs accounted for 51%, IPPs accounted for 27% and WESM accounted for 22%.