Power retailer Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) announced on Monday a significant reduction of P0.9879 per kilowatt hour in the April electricity rate on lower generation and transmission charges.
This brought the overall rate for a typical household down to P10.9518 per kWh from P11.9397 per kWh in March.
For instance, residential customers consuming 200 kWh will experience a decrease of around P198 in their total electricity bill.
“The significant reduction in this month’s overall electricity rate more than wiped out the increases in power rates for the first quarter of the year. Despite the rate reduction, Meralco continues to encourage its customers to continue practicing energy efficiency especially during summer when consumption historically increases anywhere from 10 to 40 percent due to warmer temperatures,” Meralco vice president and head of corporate communications Joe Zaldarriaga said.
Meralco said both generation and transmission charges registered sharp decreases this month, with year-to-date adjustment of Meralco rates showing a net decrease of P0.3066 per kWh.
The generation charge declined P0.3613 per kWh owing to lower costs from Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and Power Supply Agreements (PSAs) that offset the increase in the charges at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), the trading floor of electricity.
Meanwhile, the transmission charge went down by P0.4665 per kWh following the Energy Regulatory Commission’s suspension of settlements in the Reserve Market that drove the significant increase in ancillary service charges in the March electricity rates. Taxes and other charges also registered a total decrease of P0.1601 per kWh.
Meralco’s distribution charge, on the other hand, remained unchanged since the P0.0360 per kWh reduction for a typical residential customer beginning August 2022.