Meralco’s February rates up by 22 centavos per kwh
Consumers of Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) will pay more for electricity this month after the power distributor imposed a rate increase of 22 centavos per kilowatt hour (kWh) due to a higher transmission charge.
Meralco said on Tuesday that the overall rate for a typical household went up to P13.1734 per kWh from P12.9508 per kWh in January.
This means that customers consuming 200 kWh would see a hike of P45 in their power bill.
Meralco attributed the higher rate to the transmission charge, which went up by P0.1975 per kWh.
“This was due to a significant increase in ancillary service charges from the Reserve Market incurred by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines and higher power delivery service charges,” it said.
Another factor, Meralco said, was the upward adjustment in the Universal Charge for Missionary Electrification (UCME), which now stands at 27 centavos per kWh. UCME helps subsidize power charges in remote areas not connected to the grid.
Other factors
On the other hand, generation charge—which accounts for more than half of the electricity bill—helped cushion the increase as it fell by P0.1073 per kWh to P7.6398 per kWh.
Meralco added that charges from independent power producers (IPPs) also decreased by P0.8108 per kWh, which helped offset increases logged from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) and power supply agreements (PSAs).
IPPs, WESM and PSAs accounted for 24 percent, 10 percent and 66 percent, respectively, of Meralco’s total power needs for the period.
The distribution charge, on the other hand, has remained unchanged since August 2022.
Meralco delivers power to Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Rizal and selected areas in Pampanga, Laguna, Batangas and Quezon.
