Meralco customers to see ‘slight’ increase in July bills

Customers of Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) will pay an additional 7.6 centavos per kilowatt-hour in the July billing period as both contracted and spot market prices saw an uptick.

This meant that a typical residential customer using 200 kWh would see an increase of P15 from the previous month’s bill, Meralco said in a statement.

The distribution giant said the adjustment was “slight” and comes after a record rate reduction of P1.43 per kWh implemented last month.

The latest price change brings the generation charge to P8.25 per kWh, which Meralco said was comparable to the level seen in January 2010.

Meralco noted its distribution, supply, and metering charges have remained unchanged for 24 months or since July 2015.

The firm said the July increase was tempered thanks to a refund ordered by the Energy Regulatory Commission in May.

“The July (2017) rate reflects the refund of over-recovery on pass-through charges from January 2014 to December 2016 totaling around P6.9 billion,” Meralco said.

For residential customers, the refund translates to a reduction of 79 centavos per kWh, which Meralco is implementing in three installments from June to August.

The refund is not shown as a separate line item but is embedded in the different pass-through items indicated in the bill. These include charges for generation, transmission, and system loss as well as subsidies for lifeline and senior citizen customers.

According to Meralco, the increase in the generation charge was mainly due to higher prices charged by independent power producers (IPPs) and also at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM).

“The cost of power sourced from the IPPs increased by P0.1751 per kWh due to peso depreciation and lower plant dispatch,” Meralco said.

“Purchases from the WESM also increased by P0.4548 per kWh mainly due to billing adjustments, which include the additional compensation approved by the Philippine Electricity Market Corp. for the must-run unit (MRU) operations of Malaya power plant from 2012 to 2015,” the company added.

To cover its total supply needs, the distributor sources 40.8 percent from IPPs and 12.4 percent from the spot market. The rest are sourced through long-term power supply agreements.