Meralco rate up 11.35¢/kwh

Residential customers of Manila Electric Co. will pay more in their November bill with an increase of 11.35 centavos in its rate per kilowatt-hour, mainly due to higher power prices at the spot market.

Meralco said in a statement that this month’s adjustment meant that a typical residential customer who consumed 200 kwh a month would see an additional P23 in his bill.

The company said that, aside from higher charges at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market brought about by higher demand, the increase was also due to a rise in the price of fuel from Malampaya that gas-fired power plants in Batangas use.

It said power plants that run on Malampaya gas—First Gas-Sta. Rita, First Gas-San Lorenzo, First NatGas-San Gabriel and South Premiere-Ilijan—provided 61 percent of Meralco’s supply needs.

In November, Meralco’s overall charge is going up to P10.09 per kwh from P9.976 per kwh in the October billing.

The generation charge alone rose by 8.17 centavos per kwh to P5.275 per kwh from P5.1908 per kwh previously.

This was mainly due to a P1.3545 per kwh increase in Meralco purchases from the WESM, from which the company sourced 17 percent of its supply for the month.

The price of power obtained from independent power producers (IPPs) and through power supply agreements (PSAs) went down by 14.5 centavos and 56.11 centavos per kwh, respectively.

Meralco sourced 43 percent of its supply from IPPs and 41 percent from PSAs.