Without TRO, Meralco gen charge up by P4.56/kWh in Jan

MANILA, Philippines – Consumers may expect lower electricity bills in January and they have the Supreme Court to thank.

Power distributor Manila Electric Company (Meralco) temporarily pegged the generation charge for the month at P5.67 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), the rate it was charging before it imposed a P3.44/kWh increase in December.

“For January, Meralco will bill the generation rate of P5.67 per kWh in deference to the Supreme Court’s TRO (temporary restraining order),” said Meralco head of utility economics Larry Fernandez.

Meralco raised its rates by a total of P4.15/kWh in December – P3.44 of the amount was the generation charge – and decided to stagger collection. But the Supreme Court issued a 60-day TRO, leaving Meralco with no choice but to revert to its November rates.

The TRO covers only the December increase, but the utility firm said it will hold off any more increases while the TRO is in effect.

This means the generation charge for January stays the same. Without the TRO, the generation charge this month would have gone up by P4.56/kWh to P10.23/kWh.

The December hike, if not stopped by the court, would have translated to an additional P700 in the bills of households consuming an average of 200 kWh a month.

Meralco had in fact billed many of its customers using the new rates in December. Those that paid were refunded. Those that hadn’t were asked to pay the same amount as their November bills.

Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla reiterated that the TRO only covers Meralco’s December rates but since January’s is a “similar situation,” it would be prudent to maintain status quo.

Fernandez said the supposed generation charge increase in January was still a result of the shutdown of the Malampaya natural gas facility and the outages of other power plant suppliers of Meralco in December.

The Supreme Court barred Meralco from hiking its rates following petitions filed by various groups, including leftist lawmakers. 

The High Court will hold oral arguments on Meralco’s rate hike on January 21. On Thursday, January 9, it ordered that Meralco power suppliers be included as respondents in the petitions and required regulators to explain why they approved the rate hike. (READ: SC to gov’t: Explain Meralco rate hike) – Rappler.com