Costumers of Manila Electric Co. will enjoy lower power rates this month despite the recent tight supply that led to power outages in several parts of Luzon.
Meralco said power rates declined by P0.2728 per kilowatt-hour in May which would translate into a reduction of P55 in the monthly bill of a typical household consuming 200 kWh.
The overall electricity rates decreased to P10.2866 per kWh this month from P10.5594 per kWh in April as the lower rates from Meralco suppliers offset the increase in rates at the spot market.
Generation charges went down to P5.5508 per kWh from P5.6322 per kWh last month.
“The generation charge decrease is primarily due to lower charges from the independent power producers and power supply agreements,” the country’s largest power retailer said.
Cost of power from Meralco’s IPPs and PSAs decreased by P0.7544 per kWh and P0.5143 per kWh, respectively, on the back of stronger peso against the US dollar and lower fuel prices.
About 98 percent of IPP charges and 72 percent of PSA charges are dollar-denominated.
Meralco said the price of natural gas from Malampaya, which accounts for about 64 percent of Meralco’s supply, decreased this month as a result of quarterly repricing to reflect lower crude oil prices in the world market.
Meralco sourced 43 percent and 45 percent of its power requirement from IPPs and PSAs, respectively.
Meanwhile, charges from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market increased by P3.5355 per kWh because of tight supply conditions in Luzon resulting in seven instances of yellow alerts and seven instances of red alerts declared by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines during the supply month.
Several power plants went on simultaneous shutdown with a combined generating capacity of 1,500 MW while power plants with a total capacity of 800 MW were also on maintenance mode last month.
WESM, the country’s trading floor of electricity, provided 12 percent of Meralco’s supply needs.
Meralco said the transmission charges for residential customers also decreased by P0.0808 per kWh because of the higher system load factor. Taxes and other charges also decreased by P0.1106 per kWh.
Meralco’s distribution, supply, and metering charges were unchanged.