Power retailer Manila Electric Co. said Monday electricity rates went down by P0.1180 per kilowatt-hour this month because of lower generation charges.
Meralco spokesperson and vice president Joe Zaldarriaga said the overall rate for a typical household went down to P11.3168 per kWh from P11.4348 per kWh in March.
Residential customers consuming 200 kWh will experience a decrease of around P24 in their monthly electricity bill.
Zaldarriaga said the generation charge went down to P7.3295 this month from P7.3790 per kWh, even with the collection of the first installment of deferred generation costs equivalent to around P0.20 per kWh this April billing period.
Meralco coordinated with suppliers and the Energy Regulatory Commission last month to stagger the collection of around P1.1 billion in generation costs to cushion the impact of the rate increase to customers.
“The effect of the collection of the first installment was more than offset by lower costs from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market and Meralco’s power supply agreements for the April billing period,” Zaldarriaga said.
WESM charges were lower by P1.0462 per kWh on improved supply situation in the Luzon grid, as the average plant capacity on outage decreased to around 235 MW.
Meralco sourced 32 percent of its total requirement from the electricity spot market, compared to 22 percent the previous month after some of its supply agreements were terminated and expired.
Charges from PSAs also went down by P0.0741 per kWh due to the peso appreciation, which affected 43 percent of PSA costs that were dollar-denominated.
Higher share of excess energy deliveries of some PSAs, which are priced at a discount, and higher average plant dispatch, as First NatGas-San Gabriel returned to normal operations after the Malampaya shutdown, contributed to the price reduction.
Meralco procured 41 percent of its energy requirement from the PSAs last month.
Charges from Meralco’s independent power producers increased by P0.6710 per kWh following the collection of the first installment of deferred generation costs.
Dispatch of the First Gas plants also went down as they underwent scheduled maintenance in March to ensure availability during the dry season.
“The increase in the IPP rate was mitigated by the significant reduction in the use of more expensive alternative fuel by the First Gas plants and the stronger peso against US dollar which affected 97 percent of IPP costs,” Zaldarriaga said.
IPPs covered 27 percent of Meralco’s total energy requirement last month.
Other charges including transmission charge, taxes and subsidies also registered a net reduction of P0.0685 per kWh. The collection of the feed-in tariff allowance remained suspended until the August billing month.
Pass-through charges for generation and transmission are paid to the power suppliers and the grid operator, respectively, while taxes, universal charges and FIT-All are all remitted to the government.
Meralco’s distribution charge has not moved since the P0.0360 per kWh reduction for a typical residential customer in August 2022.
Meralco is still implementing one remaining distribution-related refund, equivalent to P0.8656 per kWh for residential customers, which continues to temper their monthly bills.
The final refund is set to be completed by May 2023, the impact of which will be felt the succeeding month.
Meanwhile, Meralco also advised that the ERC on April 4 formally endorsed the official list of beneficiaries of the lifeline discount.
This is in accordance with Republic Act No. 11552, also known as “An Act Extending and Enhancing the Implementation of the Lifeline Rate, Amending for the Purpose Section 73 of Republic Act 9136 (Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2021).”
Under the amended law, beneficiaries of the lifeline discount should come from marginalized households, which are defined as those who are: beneficiaries of the Pantawid ng Pamilyang Pilipino Program or households who secured certification from the local Social Welfare Development Office.
Such households will be entitled to the lifeline discount if their consumption meets with lifeline consumption threshold set by the ERC. The threshold f or the Meralco service area is at 100 kWh.
Meralco also reminded the public to continue practicing energy efficiency for better management of their consumption, which historically rises by 10 percent to 40 percent during the dry season.