The Manila Electric Company (Meralco) will charge higher rates in January, following a series of reductions in 2020.

In a statement, Meralco said that overall rates increased by P0.2744 per kilowatt hour (kWh) to P8.7497 from December’s P8.4753.

This is equivalent to an increase of around P55 in the total bill for households consuming 200 kWh.

Meralco said that the upward adjustment was mainly caused by a higher generation charge of P0.3058 to P4.4574/kWh. Power Supply Agreements and Independent Power Producers rates increased by P0.2723 and P0.2428 per kWh, respectively.

Meralco said that lower power demand in December led to fixed costs from power suppliers, which eventually resulted to higher generation rates.

Wholesale Electricity Spot Market charges, meanwhile, were down by P0.6135/kWh.

The transmission charge for households declined by P0.0236/kWh because of the refund for over collections, as ordered by the Energy Regulatory Commission. The net refund is P0.1150/kWh in January. – Rappler.com