Meralco: January generation charge pegged at P5.67/kwh

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MANILA, Philippines–The Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) has temporarily kept the generation charge – a line item in consumers’ electricity bills – steady from last month in deference to a temporary restraining order (TRO) from the Supreme Court.

Meralco spokesperson Joe Zaldarriaga and head of utility economics Larry Fernandez said in a briefing Thursday that the country’s largest power retailer pegged the generation charge at P5.67/kWh (same as in November and December 2013).

However, the officials said, preliminary billings from the power suppliers and the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) indicate that the January 2014 generation charge should have been P10.23/kWh.

The officials said Meralco has advised the Department of Energy and the Energy Regulatory Commission on the preliminary generation cost of P10.23/kWh.

“The reason for the increase is still the Malampaya shutdown which crossed two billing periods coupled with the scheduled, extended and forced outages of generation plants in December,” Fernandez said.

Zaldarriaga said Meralco will address the balance of the uncollected pass through generation charge for both December and January billing “as may be directed by the SC and or ERC.”