Meralco rates up by 57¢ per kWh in Feb

MANILA, Philippines  —Higher fuel prices pulled up distributor Manila Electric Co.’s (Meralco) electricity rate this month by P0.5738 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), the company said on Thursday.

This translates to an increase of about P114 in the overall bill of households consuming 200 kWh a month. The overall electricity rate of a typical household now stands at P11.9168 per kWh.

According to Meralco, the increase in fuel prices as well as the depreciation of the peso resulted in higher generation charge.

Generation charge, or the cost of power purchased from suppliers that accounts for more than 50 percent of a Meralco customer’s bill, rose by P0.4552 per kWh to P7.1020 per kWh.

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Taxes, transmission and other charges also had a net increase of P0.1186 per kWh.

Charges from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market, meanwhile, tempered the increases after sliding by P0.4071 per kWh as supply in the Luzon grid improved.

This marks the second consecutive month of electricity rate hikes.

In January, Meralco’s rates climbed by P0.0846 per kWh due to higher spot market charges as more power plants in the Luzon grid were on scheduled maintenance shutdowns.