Power rates down in October—Meralco

The Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) announced Wednesday the reduction of the overall rates for its residential customers for October by 13 centavos per kilowatt-hour (kWh).

This means that for a typical household consuming 200 kWh, the overall electricity bill will go down by P26 compared to last month.

Meralco spokesperson Joe Zaldarriaga said in an interview that the reduction in the overall rates was primarily due to lower generation charge.

At P8.42 per kWh, this month’s overall rate is less compared to the P8.55 per kWh rate in September. This was the sixth straight month that the overall rates declined, Zaldarriaga said.

The overall rate was P9.12 per kWh in August, P9.38 per kWh in July, P9.40 per kWh in June, and P9.98 per kWh in May. The last time Meralco announced an overall power rate increase was in April, when tight power supply combined with the impact of the Malampaya shutdown to install a new gas platform pushed overall power rates by P0.27 per kWh to P10.68 per kWh in April from P10.41 per kwh last March.

Meralco said the reduction in the overall rates for the month of October was primarily due to the generation charge, which dropped by 14 centavos per kWh from last month. At P3.996 per kWh, this month’s generation charge has also been the lowest since January 2010, Meralco said.

Charges from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) registered a reduction of P3.71 per kWh. This was due to higher plant availability in September as compared to August.

The average rate of the plants under the Independent Power Producers (IPPs) increased by 8 centavos per kWh.

Plants under the Power Supply Agreements (PSAs) also registered an increase of 18 centavos per kWh due to the lower dispatch of some power plants, such as Ilijan. Contributing also to the increase in IPP and PSA rates was their unusually low rates in the August supply month as they included adjustments from prior months (e.g., cover cost deductions from Malampaya following the supply restrictions from previous months).

In addition to the generation charge, other charges (system loss and subsidies) decreased by 1 centavo per kWh following the decrease in generation charge. Transmission charge, on the other hand, registered an increase of 1 centavo per kWh due to the higher ancillary service charges. There was also a slight increase of 1 centavo per kWh in taxes.

Meralco’s distribution, supply, and metering charges remain unchanged after it registered a reduction last July.

The power retailer says that it does not earn from the pass-through charges, such as the generation and transmission charges. Payment for the generation charge goes to the power suppliers, while payment for the transmission charge goes to the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines or NGCP.

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