The average power rate in the franchise area of Manila Electric Co. will increase P0.3143 per kilowatt-hour in December on the back of higher generation charges from power plants.
Meralco said Friday the overall rate for a typical household rose to P9.7773 per kWh in December from P9.4630 per kWh in November. This is equivalent to an increase of around P63 in the monthly bill of a residential customer consuming 200 kWh.
Meralco said the generation charge for December increased P0.1997 per kWh to P5.5343 in December from P5.3346 in November. The latest rate includes the first of the four monthly installments covering the deferred costs from the November bill.
The Energy Regulatory Commission earlier directed Meralco to defer the collection of portions of their suppliers’ generation costs and to bill these on a staggered basis beginning December until March 2022 to cushion the impact of the previous month’s Malampaya facility maintenance shutdown.
Meralco head of regulatory management office Jose Ronald Valles said that if not for the timely intervention of the ERC and the cooperation of power suppliers in deferring part of their charges, upward power adjustments would have been much higher especially in November.
“We thank the ERC and our suppliers for easing the burden to consumers,” Valles said.
Meralco said charges from power supply agreements increased by P0.2142 per kWh, brought about by higher international coal prices and lower dispatch of some PSAs. The company sourced bulk of its supply requirements at 45.7 percent from the PSAs last month.
Charges from Meralco’s independent power producers decreased by P0.1541 per kWh, with the resumption of gas supply from Malampaya and improved dispatch of Sta. Rita and San Lorenzo plants. Even with the resumption, the First Gas plants still used alternative fuel over continuing supply restrictions.
Charges from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market, the trading floor of electricity, also declined by P0.0649 per kWh as a result of improved Luzon power supply situation amid fewer plant outages coupled with the reduction in demand.
The IPPs and WESM accounted for38.2 percent, and 16.1 percent, respectively, of Meralco’s energy requirement during the supply period.
Transmission charges for residential customers increased by P0.0460 per kWh on higher ancillary service charges while taxes, system loss, and other charges also registered a net increase of P0.0686 per kWh.
