Meralco rates to go down in September

MANILA, September 11 ------ Meralco's power rates are going down this month. The overall rate is expected to drop by P0.19 per kilowatt-hour as Meralco power suppliers reduce rates amid the strengthening of the peso versus the US dollar.

Here are the estimated reductions in consumer bills:

Consumption Reduction

200 kWh P37

300 kWh P56

400 kWh P74

500 kWh P93

"We hope that along with relatively lower consumption during this period, this rate cut will bring relief to our customers,” said Meralco Vice President and Head of Corporate Communications Joe Zaldarriaga. Meralco said the generation charge went down by P0.2603 per kWh, owing to decrease in the costs of Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and Power Supply Agreements (PSAs).

The appreciation of the peso versus the dollar and the decrease in international fuel prices also lowered charges from IPPs and PSAs by P1.3459 and P0.3660 per kWh, respectively, the company said. "These decreases were more than enough to offset the higher Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) charges and the start of collection of the contract price adjustment of Sual Power, Inc. (SPI) and South Premiere Power Corporation (SPPC)," Meralco said.

Meralco said its distribution charge has not moved since the P0.0360 per kWh reduction for a typical residential customer beginning August 2022.

Source: news.abs-cbn.com