Meralco rate this month lowest since Oct. 2009

CUSTOMERS of Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) will be shouldering this month the lowest power rate since October 2009, mainly due to a slide in generation charge.

In a statement, Meralco said that the electricity rate will dip by P0.2703 per kilowatt-hour (/ kWh) to P8.09/kWh.

This comes after a slight increase in rates last December due to the peso’s significant weakening against the dollar.

“This translates to a decrease of around P54 in the total electricity bill of a household with monthly consumption of 200 kWh,” the company said, referring to the segment that accounts for around three- fourths of its customers.

“The decrease this month is mainly due to the downward movement in the generation charge.”

This month’s overall rate is P0.31/kWh less than the year-ago P8.40/kWh.

Corresponding reductions for those consuming 300 kWh, 400 kWh and 500 kWh are P81.08, P108.11 and P135.14.

This month’s generation charge is considered the lowest since October 2004. According to Meralco, there was a P0.2351/ kWh decrease in the generation charge from December’s P3.9351/ kWh. At P3.70/ kWh, the generation charge is P0.22/kWh less than January 2016’s P3.92/kWh.

The electricity distributor attributed the decrease to the cost of power supplied in December by plants under power supply agreements (PSAs), “mainly due to lower capacity charges of Pagbilao and Ilijan.”

“This reduction in capacity fees is due to the annual reconciliation of outage allowances that is done at the end of each year under the contracts approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).”

PSAs contributed 39.7% to requirements in the December supply month, Meralco said.

Cost of power from independent power producers — which accounted for 38.4% of Meralco’s December supply — saw a minimal P0.0005/kWh dip, while overall charges from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market — which contributed 21.8% — increased slightly by P0.0267/kWh to P2.5665/kWh.

Taxes and other charges slid by a combined P0.0394/kWh, while the transmission charge rose slightly by P0.0042/kWh.

Payments for the generation charge go to power suppliers, while payments for the transmission charge are remitted to the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines. —