Meralco hikes power rates for June

MANILA, Philippines—Customers of power distributor Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) will have to tighten their belts this June as the company announced an increase in electricity rate by P0.4183 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) after a series of distribution-related refunds ended last month.

Meralco on Friday (June 9) said this would raise a typical household’s overall electricity rate to P11.9112 per kWh from P11.4929 per kWh in May.

Residential customers consuming 200 kWh a month can expect an increase of around P84 in their total bill.

“As anticipated, the driver of this month’s overall rate increase was the completion of the last distribution-related refund in May,” Meralco said in a statement.

Last month, Meralco vice president and head of corporate communications Joe Zaldarriaga warned of higher electricity bills in June, as the company had already given out the final tranche of a distribution-related refund to customers that tempered hikes in rates.

This was equivalent to P0.8656 per kWh, or P173.12 for a household consuming 200 kWh a month.

“These refunds benefitted Meralco’s customers over the past two years as these helped temper increases in electricity bills at a time of financial distress and uncertainty for many,” said Jose Ronald Valles, Meralco head of regulatory management office.

Generation charge, meanwhile, tempered this month’s rate increase.

Generation charge is the cost of purchased power from suppliers and accounts for more than 50 percent of a customer’s total monthly bill.

This went down to P0.4195 per kWh, bringing down total generation charge from P7.6697 per kWh in May to P7.2502 per kWh this month.

Charges from power supply agreements and independent power producers likewise declined by P0.5871 per kWh and P0.5854 per kWh, respectively.

In May, higher generation charges triggered an increase in Meralco’s electricity rate by P0.1761 per kWh.

The power firm also included in May the final installment of deferred generation costs equivalent to 20 centavos per kWh.

Earlier this year, Meralco said it would defer around P1.1 billion in total March generation costs, staggering the collection until the May billing period to cushion the impact of the rate increase on its 7.6 million customers.

TSB