Meralco rates up P0.22/kWh this month

MANILA, Philippines, February 11 ------ Meralco customers can expect higher electricity bills this month following a P0.2226 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) increase in the overall power rate. The adjustment, ending two straight months of cuts, pushes the overall rate for a typical household to P13.1734 per kWh in February from P12.9508 per kWh in January.

For a typical household in Metro Manila and nearby provinces consuming 200 kWh, the rate hike translates to an additional P45 in the total electricity bill. At a press conference yesterday, Meralco spokesman Joe Zaldarriaga attributed the adjustment to higher power transmission charges, which climbed by P0.1975 per kWh. This resulted from a significant increase in fees for ancillary services or backup electricity from the reserve market, combined with higher power delivery service charges.

Transmission charges, which account for about 10 percent of consumer bills, cover the cost of transporting electricity from power plants to Meralco’s distribution network. Adding to this month’s hike was the P0.077 per kWh increase in the Universal Charge for Missionary Electrification (UCME), a non-by passable fee imposed on all on-grid consumers to subsidize power costs in remote areas. This follows the Energy Regulatory Commission’s approval of a new UCME rate, raising it from P0.1993 to P0.2763 per kWh, effective this month.

Similarly, other charges, including taxes, registered a net increase of P0.0554 per kWh. Helping to ease these increases was a P0.1073 per kWh drop in generation charges, or the cost of power procured by Meralco from its suppliers. Although charges from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) and power supply agreements (PSAs) went up, the substantial drop in fees from independent power producers (IPPs) tempered their impact.

IPPs, WESM and PSAs accounted for 24 percent, 10 percent and 66 percent, respectively, of Meralco’s total energy needs for the period. Meralco remits taxes and other charges to the government, while pass-through charges for generation and transmission are paid to power producers and the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines, respectively. The distribution charge, the only portion that goes to Meralco, has not changed since the P0.036 per kWh reduction in August 2022.

Ahead of the dry season, Meralco has assured its more than eight million customers that it is prepared to meet the expected surge in power demand. “Since our responsibility really is to provide all customers with electricity during the crucial period of the summer months, we make sure we have our supply adequately covered,” Zaldarriaga said.

Source: philstar.com