RATE HIKE. Meralco announces on Wednesday (Jan. 10, 2024) that it will increase its electricity rate this month. Meralco said higher power costs from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market and Independent Power Producers triggered the upward adjustment in the first month of the year. (File photo)
MANILA – Customers in the franchise areas of the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) can expect higher electricity bills in the first month of 2024, as the distribution utility (DU) announced a slight increase in power rate for January.
On Wednesday, Meralco said there will be an upward adjustment of PHP0.0846 per kilowatt hour (kWh) this month, which will bring the overall rate to PHP11.3430 per kWh from PHP11.2584 in December 2023.
“For residential customers consuming 200 kWh, the adjustment is equivalent to a minimal increase of around PHP17 in their total electricity bill,” it said.
The DU attributed the increase to higher power costs from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), which went up by PHP0.5611 per kWh due to higher average capacity on outage in the Luzon grid, and from Independent Power Producers (IPP), which increased by PHP0.1384 per kWh because of higher fuel costs of First Gas amid the use of imported liquefied natural gas.
IPP and WESM supplied 36.5 and 20.5 percent of Meralco’s power requirement.
On the other hand, the higher WESM and IPP rates were offset by cost from Power Supply Agreements (PSAs), which decreased by PHP0.1522 per kWh due to lower rates charges from Meralco’s PSAs with Therma Luzon Inc. and South Premiere Power Corp.
PSAs were Meralco’s largest energy supplier in December 2023 at 43 percent.
Meanwhile, net transmission and other charges also declined by PHP0.0290 per kWh, while distribution charges have remained steady at PHP0.0360 per kWh since August 2022. (PNA)
