Meralco says bills to go down in May

MANILA, Philippines – Power distributor Manila Electric Company (Meralco) said Wednesday, April 7 that electricity bills this month will go down by P0.05 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) or roughly P10 for a typical household consuming 200 kWh.

Meralco said the decline in its rate was a result of the reduction in transmission and systems loss charges. It added fewer customers availed of the lifeline subsidy.

“These reductions… more than offset a slight adjustment in the generation charge,” said Meralco.

The transmission charge fell P0.08 per kWh due to lower ancillary service costs. Subsidies and the system loss charge went down P0.04 per kWh.

The generation charge rose P0.07 per kWh to P5.97 per kWh. The increase however was tempered, according to Meralco, because it obtained less power from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM).

“Our preparations to meet increasing demand this summer has allowed us to reduce the share of WESM purchases from 3.9% in the March supply month down to 3.4% in April,” said Alfredo Panlilio, senior vice president for Customer Retail Services and Corporate Communications.

Panlilio said Toledo Power and Panay Power, suppliers with whom Meralco signed purchase agreements, started delivering power on April 3. Additional supply from these suppliers allowed Meralco to reduce WESM purchases.

The cost of power from Independent Power Producers (IPPs) fell P0.13 per kWh. This offset the P0.07 per kWh increase in the average rate charged by suppliers with Power Supply Agreements (PSAs) with Meralco. PSAs and IPPs accounted for 56.1% and 40.4% of Meralco’s total energy requirements. – Rappler.com