Meralco hikes rates; oil firms up prices today

Consumers can expect higher power rates this month as Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) announced an increase of P0.1520 per kilowatt-hour, bringing the overall rate for a typical household to P13.4702 per kWh from P13.3182 per kWh in October.

Oil companies, meanwhile, will raise pump prices by P1 per liter for diesel and P0.50 per liter for gasoline effective 6 a.m. Tuesday, reflecting movements in the international oil market. Kerosene prices will remain unchanged following the Department of Energy’s (DOE) price freeze order.

Seaoil Philippines, Jetti Petroleum, Chevron Philippines, PTT Philippines, and Cleanfuel issued separate advisories announcing the latest price hikes.

Meralco spokesperson Joe Zaldarriaga said residential customers using 200 kWh a month will see an increase of about P30 in their total bill, mainly due to higher transmission and feed-in tariff allowance (FIT-All) charges.

“The generation charge actually went down. The transmission went up by P0.0147. We announced an increase in the feed-in tariff allowance by P0.09, rounded off, and other charges of less than P0.02. So what drove the increase is actually the transmission and feed-in,” Zaldarriaga said.

He said this month’s transmission charge rose by P0.1468 per kWh due to higher ancillary service charges from the reserve market incurred by the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP).

Also contributing to the increase was the P0.0884 per kWh hike in FIT-All, following the Energy Regulatory Commission’s (ERC) directive to implement a new FIT-All of P0.2073 per kWh starting November, up from P0.1189 per kWh previously.

Tempering the increase was the generation charge, which dropped by P0.1008 per kWh to P7.9000 from P8.0008 in October, mainly due to lower charges from power supply agreements (PSAs) and the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM).

Meralco’s PSA rate fell by P0.2985 per kWh on lower fuel costs, offsetting the impact of the peso’s depreciation against the US dollar. WESM rates also decreased by P0.6273 per kWh despite tighter supply in October, due to downward billing adjustments.

Charges from independent power producers (IPPs), however, rose by P0.2481 per kWh as the weaker peso affected dollar-denominated costs, which account for about 99 percent of IPP expenses. PSAs, IPPs, and WESM supplied 77 percent, 20 percent, and 3 percent, respectively, of Meralco’s total energy requirement for the period.

Other Meralco charges—including system loss, subsidies, taxes, and universal charges—registered a net increase of P0.0176 per kWh, which included a P0.0025 hike in the universal charge–environmental charge following the ERC’s lifting of its collection suspension.

Jetti Petroleum said its latest adjustments reflect changes in refined fuel prices, freight, and market premiums in the global market. The company noted a rise in gasoline premiums amid tight regional supply as refineries undergo maintenance.

“While crude price benchmarks have eased slightly week-on-week as demand weakened, refined fuel prices remain elevated due to supply concerns,” said Jetti Petroleum president Leo Bellas.

Bellas added that Singapore diesel price markers rose due to tightening supply, low inventories, and reduced exports from Northeast Asia amid refinery maintenance shutdowns.

Gasoline prices, meanwhile, have softened slightly as China boosts exports, though strong regional demand and refinery outages continue to prop up prices.

DOE Oil Industry Management Bureau director Rodela Romero attributed the latest oil price hikes to Ukraine’s drone attacks on Russia’s Black Sea port, a key export hub—and sanctions. “On the other hand, expectations of OPEC+ production ramp-up are making the oil market bearish,” Romero said.