MANILA, Philippines – Households and industrial users served by Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) have to brace for another round of increase in their August electricity bills as costlier energy supply kicked in.
On Tuesday, August 7, the country’s largest power retailer announced that the its generation charge will reflect a P0.28 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) increase to P6.7397/kWh this August from P6.4549/kWh in July.
The 8-day shutdown in July of the pipeline that brings natural gas from Malampaya project in Palawan to power plants in Batangas hiked generation charges, which account for over 50% of the Meralco consumer’s electricity bill.
(View Rappler Animate: Why electricity rates in Philippines are high)
The shutdown meant that the 3 power plants that Meralco buys from had limited operations, and prompted the power retailer from buying more from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM).
(Read: How does WESM work and affect electric bills?)
Meralco said it sourced almost double — 12.6% — of its requirements from the WESM in July from 6.3% in June.
The power rates bought at the WESM, mostly from more expensive liquid condensate fuel suppliers, stood at P14.70/kWh.
Charges from the National Power Corp. (Napocor), which shifted to the cheaper wet-season rates in July, decreased by P0.66 to P4.99/kWh. Napocor accounted for 41.7% of Meralco’s power requirements.
As a result, Meralco said the generation cost from Independent Power Producers (IPPs) increased by P0.48 centavos to P5.58/kWh. IPPs supplied 45.6 percent of Meralco’s power requirements in July.
As Malampaya and other power plants get back online, supply conditions this August are expected to improve and generation charges more favorable. – Rappler.com
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