Consumers of power retailer Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) will experience a slight upward adjustment in their January electricity rates amounting to P0.0846 per kilowatt-hour (kWh).
Meralco said residential customers consuming 200 kWh will have a minimal increase of around P17 in their total electricity bill.
The overall rate for a typical household is now P11.3430 per kWh this month from P11.2584 per kWh in December, driven by higher generation charges.
Meralco vice president and spokesman Joe Zaldarriaga said the overall rate increase was due to the higher generation charge, which increased by P0.1136 to P6.6468 per kWh from P6.5332 per kWh last month, driven by higher cost of power from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) and the independent power producers (IPPs).
The WESM is the country’s trading floor of electricity where distribution utilities like Meralco sources a portion of their supply.
WESM charges went up by P0.5611 per kWh due to higher average capacity on outage in the Luzon grid, which increased by around 418 MW.
Meralco sourced about 20.5 percent of its requirements from the WESM last month.
Meanwhile, Meralco’s IPP charges also increased by P0.1384 per kWh due to higher fuel costs of First Gas-owned Sta. Rita and San Lorenzo power plant resulting from the use of imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the testing and commissioning of its LNG terminal.
IPPs accounted for 36.5 percent of Meralco’s total energy requirement for the period.
Zaldarriaga said tempering the increase was a P0.1522 per kWh reduction in charges from Meralco’s Power Supply Agreements (PSAs) with the lower charges from emergency PSAs with Therma Luzon Inc. and South Premiere Power Corp. and higher excess energy deliveries from some PSAs, which were priced at a discount.
Meralco procured 43 percent of its supply requirements from the PSAs for the December supply month.
Meanwhile, transmission and other charges registered a net reduction of P0.0290 per kWh.
The feed-In tariff allowance (FIT-All) collection of P0.0364 per kWh remains suspended as directed by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).
Pass-through charges for generation and transmission are paid by Meralco 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, on the other hand, has not moved since the P0.0360 per kWh reduction for a typical residential customer beginning August 2022.
Meralco also urged its qualified customers, particularly beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) and other marginalized households with certification from their local Social Welfare and Development Office (SWDO), to apply for inclusion in the subsidy mechanism to continue getting discounts on their electricity bills under the Lifeline Rate Program.
Only customers with approved applications can receive the Lifeline Rate. Qualified and interested customers can visit the nearest Meralco Business Center to apply.
Meralco likewise reminded the public to continue practicing energy efficiency for better management of their electricity consumption.