Meralco says generation charge may drop by 30 cents in March

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MANILA, Philippines—The Manila Electric Co. may be able to pass on lower generation charges for the month of March as power supply costs went down for the supply month of February.

“We see a reduction of about 30 centavos per kilowatt-hour in the generation charge, though other cost components such as transmission and other charges may still affect the overall cost in our customers’ bills,” Meralco company spokesperson Joe R. Zaldarriaga said in a text message.

The cost of power supply from generation companies as well as spot market prices were lower in the February supply month, for which customers are to be billed this month, officials said. The final computation of the generation charge is expected to be issued early next week.

“All sources of supply showed reductions,” Lawrence S. Fernandez, Meralco assistant vice president and head of utility economics, said separately. He noted, however, that the estimate of 30 centavos was not yet final as computations were still being made.

Fernandez said the lower trend in cost may be due to normal power plant operations and relatively low electricity demand due to the cooler weather in February.

Last month, Meralco passed on a reduction of 13.14 centavos per kilowatt-hour in the generation charge to P5.54 per kWh from the P5.67 per kWh collected in January. Households consuming 101 kWh in a month would have paid P13.27 less in their power bills for February, while those with a 200-kWh consumption saw a P26.28 decrease. Households consuming 300 kWh and 400 kWh monthly enjoyed reductions of P39.42 and P52.56, respectively.

Meralco said the February generation charge could have represented a P4.69-per-kWh reduction from the actual generation charge of P10.23 per kWh for January. However, the generation charge for January was capped at P5.67 per kWh due to a temporary restraining order from the Supreme Court.

On December 9, the Energy Regulatory Commission approved Meralco’s record rate increase of P4.15 per kWh (a generation charge increase of P3.44 per kWh plus taxes) that was to be charged in three tranches in December, February and March. However, the Supreme Court on December 23 stopped the rate increase, with a temporary restraining order that kept generation rates steady at P5.63 per kWh as various groups contested the actual charge of P9.1070 per kWh for December.

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