MERALCO CUTS SEPTEMBER RATES

THE Manila Electric Company (Meralco) has announced a decrease of P0.1852 per kWh this September due to lower generation charge.

This brings the overall rate for a typical household to P13.0851 per kWh from P13.2703 per kWh the previous month.

“For residential customers consuming 200 kWh, they will see a reduction of P37 in their total electricity bill. We hope that along with relatively lower consumption during this period, this rate cut will bring relief to our customers,” Meralco vice president and head of Corporate Communications Joe R. Zaldarriaga said.

He said lower generation charge pulls down overall rates

Zaldarriaga said that the overall rate reduction this month was mainly due to lower generation charge as it went down by P0.2603 per kWh, owing to decrease in the costs of Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and Power Supply Agreements (PSAs).

Charges from IPPs and PSAs went down by P1.3459 and P0.3660 per kWh, respectively, due to the appreciation of the local currency against the US Dollar and decrease in international fuel prices. The stronger Peso affected around 99% of IPP costs and 57% of PSA costs that were dollar denominated.

Meralco said that these decreases were more than enough to offset the higher Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) charges and the start of collection of the contract price adjustment of Sual Power, Inc. (SPI) and South Premiere Power Corporation (SPPC).

However, consumers’ recent relief from high electricity bills may be short-lived, as Meralco anticipates a potential price increase of ₱0.32 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) starting in October.

According to Larry Fernandez, Meralco Head of Utility Economics, this potential spike is primarily driven by the recently approved extension of Meralco’s deal with the First Gas Sta. Rita Power Plant to secure additional power capacity.