October power rates up by 23 centavos/kWh
Customers of the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) will see higher electricity bills this month after the power distributor announced on Monday a rate increase of 23 centavos per kilowatt hour (kWh).
This will bring the overall rate for a typical household to P13.3182 per kWh, up from P13.0851 per kWh in September.
According to Meralco, households consuming an average of 200 kWh will see an increase of P47 in their October billing.
The power distributor said the upward adjustment was due to a higher generation charge, which went up by P0.1903 per kWh.
Contributing factor
This was an offshoot of the Philippine peso further weakening against the US dollar, affecting the expenses of independent power producers (IPPs) and power supply agreements (PSAs) that are dollar-denominated.
With the greenback gaining more ground against the local currency, this means that the costs of power producers and supply deals that are dollar-denominated will become more expensive.
But lower charges from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), which fell by P2.0688 per kWh, helped soften the increase, Meralco said.
IPPs, PSAs and WESM accounted for 21 percent, 74 percent and 5 percent, respectively, of the power distributor’s total energy requirements for the period.
The generation charge accounts for more than half of the monthly electricity bill.
Transmission, taxes and other charges likewise logged a slight price jump of P0.0428 per kWh.
The distribution charge, on the other hand, has remained unchanged since August 2022.
Meralco is the country’s biggest power distributor, servicing Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Rizal and selected areas in Pampanga, Laguna, Batangas and Quezon.
Following the series of earthquakes over the past few weeks, Meralco assured consumers that “it continuously safeguards its distribution facilities from potential hazards…”
