MANILA – Electricity rates in franchise areas of the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) were higher this month, the distribution utility (DU) announced Friday.
In a statement, Meralco said the power rate increased by PHP0.0229 per kilowatt hour this month to PHP11.9397 per kWh from PHP11.9168 per kWh rate in February.
It said households consuming 200 kWh a month should expect an upward adjustment in their total electricity bill of less than PHP5 for March.
The DU said higher transmission charge has offset the lower generation charge.
"Our earlier projection of a lower generation charge would have resulted in lower overall rates. However, the steep upward adjustment in the transmission charge effectively wiped out the reduction in generation charges causing a slight uptick in overall rates,” Meralco vice president and head of corporate communications Joe Zaldarriaga said.
Transmission charge for March went up by PHP0.3976 per kWh for residential customers following the higher ancillary service charges, which increased by more than three times in March and accounted for 52 percent of the total transmission costs.
“This increase was tempered by a PHP0.3518 per kWh reduction in the generation charge,” Meralco said.
It said charges from power supply agreements (PSAs) declined by PHP0.3045 per kWh, while rates from independent power producers (IPPs) and Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) also fell by PHP0.1443 per kWh and PHP0.1131 per kWh, respectively.
Bulk of Meralco’s power requirement came from PSAs at 51 percent, 27 percent were sourced from IPPs, and the remaining 22 percent were from WESM. (PNA)
