Power rates in the franchise area of Manila Electric Co. jumped P0.66 per kilowatt-hour this month, reflecting the impact of the 20-day maintenance shutdown of Malampaya natural gas field in Palawan that forced generation plants to run on more expensive fuel.
Meralco said the new rate would translate into an increase of P132 in the monthly bill of typical residential consumers, or those with a monthly demand of 200 kilowatt-hours.
The Energy Department said it was looking at ways not to pass on the incremental fuel cost recovery of future Malampaya gas field maintenance shutdowns to consumers.
“We are still keen on looking for ways on not to pass on to the consumers the incremental cost brought by the shutdown. We are planning to hold a conference among those involved to address a no pass-on policy,” Energy Secretary Cusi said.
Energy Undersecretary Felix William Fuentebella told reporters in a joint briefing with Meralco and Shell Philippines Exploration B.V. officials that they would review the gas supply contracts of Spex and the gas plants.
The Malampaya gas project goes on maintenance shutdown every two to three years.
Meralco said the P0.66-per-kWh increase in March would bring the overall rate to P9.67 per kWh, up from P9 per kWh in February.
It said the rate increase was led by the upward movement in the generation charge, caused mainly by the 20-day Malampaya shutdown which took place on Jan. 28 to Feb. 16 this year. The shutdown affected the natural gas supply to the Ilijan, Sta. Rita and San Lorenzo plants which contribute an aggregate capacity of 2,565 MW to Meralco’s franchise area.
The power plants had to switch from natural gas to more expensive liquid fuel during the shutdown. It also coincided with the scheduled maintenance of other power plants such as SEM-Calaca Power Corp. Unit 1, Quezon Power Phils., Ltd., and one block of the Ilijan power plant, which collectively contributes 1,185 MW to Meralco.
Meralco said the overall generation charge this month increased P0.58 per kWh to P4.90 per kWh which included a fuel cost recovery of P0.22 per kWh.
Rates of Meralco independent power producers, which supplied 33.4 percent to the distributor, also went up by P0.63 per kWh.
Overall charges from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market increased by P1.68 per kWh. Meralco sourced 25.4 percent of its requirements from WESM in February.
Rates from Meralco’s power supply agreements and interim power supply agreements declined by P0.03 per kWh. Meralco sourced 41.2 percent of its requirements from these agreements.
Meralco said there was a slight decrease in the transmission charge of residential customers of P0.01 per kWh. Taxes and other charges went up by a combined P0.09 per kWh.
Meralco’s distribution, supply and metering charges remained unchanged for 20 months.