Meralco hikes power rates by 15¢/kWh this September

Consumers of Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) may see a slight increase in their September bills, with the power distributor giant putting the blame on higher transmission charges.

The company said Wednesday that power rates this month went up by P0.1543 per kilowatt hour (kWh), pushing the overall rate to P11.7882 per kWh against the P11.6339 per kWh imposed in August.

This translates to a P31 rise in electricity bills for users consuming 200 kWh.

READ: Meralco power rates up 3¢/kWh in August

Meralco attributed this to the hike in transmission charge, or the cost of delivering power supply to the firm’s distribution system, which reached P0.2913 per kWh.

“[This was] due to higher ancillary service charges following the resumption of commercial operations of the reserve market on August 5, 2024,” it said.

Just like last month, the generation charge again recorded a slight drop, dipping by P0.1547 per kWh. However, this was still inadequate to cancel the increase in transmission charge.

“Kung hindi sana sa pag-taas ng transmission charge, bumaba sana tayo ngayong buwan,” Meralco vice president and head of Corporate Communications Joe R. Zaldarriaga said in a briefing.

[If it weren’t for the increase in transmission charge, the rates would have gone down this month.]