Meralco rates to go down in January

MANILA, Philippines – Following a spike in December, electricity rates for January are set to go down by P0.21 per kilowatt hour (kWh), the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) announced Thursday, January 7.

The decline in power rates for this month is equal to a P41.30 reduction in overall electricity bill for a typical household consuming 200 kWh.
 
The reduction in the overall rates was primarily due to the generation charge, which decreased by P0.21 per kWh from December. Generation charge is the largest component of an electric bill.

At P3.92 per kWh, this month’s generation charge is the lowest since January 2010.

Power plants under the Power Supply Agreements (PSAs) registered a decrease of P0.49 per kWh.

This was mainly due to the reduction in capacity fees of Pagbilao, Sual, Calaca, and Ilijan, and offset higher charges from the Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), Meralco said.

This reduction in capacity fees is due to the annual reconciliation of outage allowances under the contracts approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).
 
The average rate of the IPPs increased slightly, by P0.04 per kWh. This was due primarily to a lower dispatch of Quezon power and San Lorenzo power plants.
 
Charges from the WESM registered an increase of P0.35 per kWh, largely caused by billing adjustments from prior periods.
 
The share of IPPs, PSAs, and WESM to Meralco’s total power requirements stood at 48.7%, 46.7%, and 4.6%, respectively.
 
Apart from a decline in generation charge, taxes decreased by P0.02 per kWh. Transmission charge though registered an increase of P0.02 per kWh due to lower load factor.
 
Meralco’s distribution, supply, and metering charges remain unchanged after it registered a reduction in July.
 
Meralco again reiterated that it does not earn from the pass-through charges, such as the generation and transmission charges.

Payment for the generation charge goes to the power suppliers, while payment for the transmission charge goes to the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP). – Rappler.com