Meralco rates down in September

MANILA, Philippines – Customers of the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) will see a reduction in their bills this month due to lower generation and other charges.

Meralco rates are down by P0.58 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) or around P116 for a typical household consuming 200 kWh a month.

Meralco said the reduction was due to the decline in generation, transmission and system loss charges, as well as taxes.

The generation charge for the August supply month – reflected in the September bill – went down to P5.19/kWh, its lowest level to date this year, and 44 centavos below the previous month’s P5.63/kWh rate. The was primarily driven by the improved availability of generation plants as less forced outages were registered during the August supply month. In contrast to July, when the Luzon grid experienced generation deficiency, no yellow or red alerts were declared in August.

The improved availability of power plants led to higher utilization levels, with corresponding P0.27 and P0.06/kWh decreases in the average rates of suppliers with Power Supply Agreements (PSAs), and Independent Power Producers (IPPs), respectively.

The improved reliability of power plants also led to lower prices in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM). While the secondary price cap was triggered for only 18 trading intervals in August, against 56 in July. WESM charges, excluding adjustments from prior periods and line rentals, went down by P5.34/kWh.

In terms of share in Meralco’s total power requirements for the August supply month, PSAs, IPPs, and WESM accounted for 52%, 47%, and 1%, respectively.

Contributing also to the overall reduction in bills to households was the P0.04/kWh decrease in transmission charge, thanks to lower ancillary charges.

There was a cumulative decrease of P0.02/kWh in subsidies and the system loss charge. Taxes, likewise, fell by P0.08/kWh.

Meralco reiterated that it does not earn from pass-through charges, such as the generation and transmission charges. Payments for these charges go to power suppliers and the power grid operator. Of the bill, only the distribution, supply, and metering charges accrue to Meralco. – Rappler.com