HIGHER BILL. The Manila Electric Company says on Thursday (Nov. 11, 2023) that customers in Meralco franchise areas can expect higher electricity bill for November, with the power rate now reaching more than PHP12 per kilowatt hour. This translates to a PHP47 increase in the bill of 200-kilowatt hour monthly household consumption. (File photo)
MANILA – The Manila Electric Company (Meralco) said on Thursday the electricity rate in November has further increased, now reaching PHP12.0545 per kilowatt hour (kWh), due to higher transmission charge.
The distribution utility firm said power rate this month is higher by PHP0.2347 per kWh from October’s rate of PHP11.8198 per kWh.
This is the third straight month that Meralco hiked its electricity rate.
“Driving this month’s overall rate increase is the uptick in the transmission charge, which went up by PHP0.211 per kWh for residential customers, due to higher ancillary service charges,” Meralco said.
It said the ancillary service charge of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) surged almost fourfold from PHP23.17 per kWh to PHP91.35 per kWh.
“Cost of regulating reserves accounted for around 76.5 percent of total ancillary service charges. As of October this year, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has approved an additional 257.78 MW for regulating reserves under new ancillary service procurement agreements,” Meralco added.
The company said generation charge also increased by PHP0.0671 to PHP7.1938 per kWh from PHP7.1267 per kWh in the previous month.
The higher charges from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) and independent power producers (IPPs) triggered the increase in generation charge for November, it added.
Meanwhile, the rate from power supply agreement (PSA) tamed the overall generation charge increase as it went down by PHP0.2980 per kWh due to lower international coal prices, higher PSA dispatch and higher excess energy deliveries.
Last month, PSAs supplied the largest power requirement for Meralco at 53.2 percent, followed by IPPs at 32.5 percent and WESM at 14.3 percent.
Meanwhile, household customers in Meralco franchise areas consuming 200 kWh should expect an increase of PHP47 in their total electricity bill.
Since the start of the year, Meralco power rate had a net increase of PHP1.1544 per kWh from a rate of PHP10.9001 in January. (PNA)
