MANILA, Philippines - Customers of the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), the country’s biggest power distributor, will have to pay an additional 25 centavos per kilowatt-hour for their electricity bills this month due to the higher cost of power supplied by power generation companies.

Thus, households consuming 100 kWh of electricity a month or less will see their November bills rise by P25, while those consuming up to 200 kWh a month can expect their bills to increase by P50.

Ivanna dela Peña, Meralco vice president for utility economics, explained that the price of electricity for November actually increased by 32.7 centavos per kWh, after the generation charge rose to P4.2286 per kWh.

“This adjustment in the generation charge will, however, be tempered by the reduction in transmission charges and the deferred Purchased Power Agreement refund ordered by the Energy Regulatory Commission, amounting to 6 and 1.7 centavos per kWh, respectively,” Dela Peña said.

She added that the cooler weather at this time of the year would also temper the effect of the said generation rate adjustment on the overall bills of customers.

Dela Peña attributed the increase in generation charge to a number of factors, including the lower volume of electricity supplied by independent power producers (IPPs) following a reduced consumption during the October supply month (Sept. 26 to Oct. 25).

The decline was blamed on the series of storms that had hit Manila and other parts of Luzon, which had in turn, caused massive power outages.

Meralco sources power from three IPPs namely the 500-MW San Lorenzo and 1,000-MW Sta. Rita power plants in Batangas, both of which are operated by the Lopez-owned First Gas and the Quezon Power Ltd. Co., respectively.

“Add to this are the prolonged power outages in some portions of the Meralco franchise area,” Dela Peña further noted.

The higher cost of power from the National Power Corp. (Napocor) and the wholesale electricity spot market (WESM) likewise contributed to the overall increase in the generation charge, she added.

She further said that higher fuel cost and the slight depreciation of the peso were also among the factors responsible for the rise in overall generation costs.

Dela Peña stressed, however, that even with the increase this month, the current generation charge is still lower than levels during the previous months, which had peaked at P5.02 per kWh in April.