Meralco rates up slightly in Oct

THE Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) on Monday announced a rate increase of P0.0345 per kilowatt hour (kWh), which will be reflected in the billing this October.

Meralco, in a statement, said the rate adjustment was caused by a P0.1777 per kWh hike in the generation charge.

This means that typical households that consume 200 kWh would see a P6.91 increase in their October bill; for those who consume 300 kWh, P10.35; 400 kWh, P13.80; and 500 kWh, P17.25.

The overall generation charge climbed to P4.7155 per kWh in October from P4.5378 per kWh in September after the listed company ended last month the P6.9billion refund of over-recovery on pass-through charges.

Charges from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), however, dropped by P0.4382 per kWh, as the four “yellow alerts” raised by the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines ( NGCP) in Luzon lowered the electricity demand during the September supply period.

The power grid operator NGCP issued the second highest alert level in the country’s largest island region on September 9, September 16, September 22 and September 28.

The generation charge also includes recuperation by the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) of certain incremental costs incurred by the National Power Corp. (Napocor).

In its June 20 resolution, the Energy Regulatory Commission approved the collection of about P21.5 billion from customers of affected distribution utilities over 60 months.

Such decision would translate to an additional 1.2 centavos per kWh in the generation charge, which would then be remitted to PSALM.

Transmission charge decreased by P0.0593 per kWh, while taxes and other charges went down by P0.0839, partly because of the recently concluded refund.

Power cost from power supply agreements (PSAs) and indepen- dent power producers ( IPPS) slightly rose on higher fuel prices and lower average plant dispatch, respectively.

Distribution, supply and metering charges have remained unchanged for 27 months since their recorded reduction in July 2015.

Shares of IPPs, PSAs and WESM to Meralco’s total requiremets stood at 45 percent, 43 percent and 12 percent, respectively.

The latest price change comes after Meralco raised September rates by P0.8642 per kWh.