Meralco customers save P14 billion

MANILA Electric Co. (Meralco) said its customers saved P14 billion as the power company’s average electricity rate reached its lowest level in 2020, mainly because of the “significant decrease” in generation charges.

The average retail rate stood at P7.96 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), representing a 10-percent decline from the P8.87 per kWh registered in 2019, Meralco First Vice President and Regulatory Management head Jose Ronald Valles said in a media briefing last week.

The power distributor accounted last year’s lower overall charges to the 16.1 percent decrease in generation charges due to the implementation of new power supply agreements (PSA).

Lower PSA charges provided P8.4 billion savings to consumers and slashed the average system loss charge by 12.6 percent.

The reduction in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) prices and the peso appreciation, as well as the invocation of force majeure claims during the community quarantine that slashed fixed costs and charges from temporary suspension of mid-merit supply contracts also contributed to the rate decline. In turn, consumers saved up to

P2.4 billion.

In addition, Meralco provided as much as P3.2-billion in payment relief to customers who were unable to meet their guaranteed minimum billing demand.

During the same period, there was a 6.2-percent increase in transmission charges as compared with the year prior due to higher power delivery service and ancillary service charges, as well as the lower average system load factor due to the coronavirus lockdown.

“We see the lower rates last year as hopefully a relief for our consumers, especially during these trying times. We hope that the lower power costs as projected this month will further provide assistance to our customers in so far as their power bills are concerned,” Joe Zaldarriaga, Meralco vice president for corporate communications and spokesperson said in a statement over the weekend.

Earlier, Meralco indicated it is likely to cut electricity rates for March, still because of lower generation costs and the impact of a P13.9-billion refund order from the Energy Regulatory Commission.

This would be the second consecutive month of decrease for 2021, it added.