Power consumers will enjoy lower electricity rates in May, after the cost of generation decreased, retailer Manila Electric Co. said Tuesday.
Meralco said in a statement power rates would go down by P0.5436 per kilowatt-hour for a typical household consuming 200 kilowatt-hours a month. This would translate into a decrease of P109 in the monthly bill of a residential customer, it said.
Meralco said the lower May rate was due to the P0.4212-per-kWh decline in the generation charges.
The country’s biggest power distributor said the adjustment this month would bring the overall rate to P10.0041 per kWh from P10.5477 per kWh in April.
Meralco said the lower charges at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market, the country’s trading floor of electricity, brought down the overall generation charges.
Generation charges dropped to P5.0523 per kWh from P5.4735 per kWh a month earlier.
Charges from WESM decreased by P1.0139 per kWh, despite the higher demand in the Luzon grid as several power plants went back online after their scheduled maintenance shutdown.
Meralco obtained 22 percent of total requirements from WESM in the April supply month.
Cost of power from independent power producers also fell P0.5920 per kWh due to Quezon Power Philippines’ return to normal operations from a scheduled maintenance.
“The improvement in average plant dispatch more than offset the upward adjustment due to higher Malampaya natural gas prices resulting from the quarterly repricing that reflect recent movement of crude oil prices in the world market,” Meralco said.
Meralco’s IPPs provided 45 percent of the company’s total energy requirement last month.
Purchases under power supply agreements increased by P0.2096 per kWh due to scheduled maintenance outage of Pagbilao Unit 1 and Ilijan Unit 1 and the quarterly repricing of Malampaya natural gas. Meralco purchased 33 percent of its power requirements from PSAs.
Transmission charges on residential customers slightly decreased by P0.0096 per kWh. Taxes and other charges declined by P0.1128 per kWh.
Meralco’s distribution, supply and metering charges remain unchanged for 34 months.
Meralco, which has over six million customers in its franchise area, said it was not earning from the pass-through charges, such as the generation and transmission charges.
Payment for the generation charge goes to the power suppliers, while payment for the transmission charge goes to the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines.
Taxes and other public policy charges like the feed-in-tariff allowance, used to pay the renewable energy developers, are remitted to the government.
Meralco assured stable power supply during the May 14 barangay polls, as more than 180 generator sets would be on standby on election day.
These generator sets will provide basic lighting to polling and canvassing places in case of unexpected power interruptions. More than 300 floodlights will also be ready for deployment and use in case of emergencies.