By Sheldeen Joy Talavera, Reporter
RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS in areas served by Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) will see a discount of their electricity bills this month, mainly on account of lower generation charges for the period.
The general rate will go down by P0.2189 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) to P11.7428 per kWh in January from P11.9617 per kWh in December, the facility distributor said in an announcement on Monday.
This may translate to a downward adjustment of around P44 in the full electricity bill of residential customers consuming 200 kWh. Those consuming 300 kWh, 400 kWh, and 500 kWh will see a discount of P66, P89, and P112, respectively, on this month’s bills.
Meralco said it slashed power rates after the generation charge declined by P0.1313 per kWh to P6.8358 per kWh primarily on account of lower costs from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) and independent power producers (IPPs).
WESM charges decreased by P0.8840 per kWh on account of the improved supply situation within the Luzon grid as each average peak demand and average capability on outage went down.
Charges from IPPs declined by P0.1593 per kWh due to peso appreciation, which affected 97% of the prices that were dollar denominated. The lower cost of fuel and better dispatch of the First Gas-Sta. Rita plant also contributed to the decrease.
The peso closed at P57.845 on Dec. 27, appreciating by P0.775 from its P58.62 finish on Nov. 29.
“These reductions tempered the P0.5638 per kWh increase in charges from power supply agreements (PSAs) on account of lower plant dispatch,” the corporate said.
WESM, IPPs, and PSAs accounted for 34%, 30%, and 36%, respectively, of Meralco’s total energy requirement for the period.
On other components, transmission and other charges dropped by P0.0876 per kWh.
Pass-through charges for generation and transmission are paid to the facility suppliers and the grid operator, respectively. Taxes, universal charges, and Feed-in Tariff Allowance are all remitted to the federal government.
Meralco’s distribution charge has remained unchanged at P0.0360 per kWh since August 2022.
“While electricity rates decreased this month, we would really like to remind our customers to proceed practicing energy efficiency as a lifestyle especially with the dry season is fast approaching,” said Joe R. Zaldarriaga, Meralco’s vice-president and head of corporate communications.
Meanwhile, Meralco customers may expect a slight reduction of their power bills in February because the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) earlier directed distribution utilities to refund all collected and unutilized regulatory reset expert costs. All future collection of those costs was also stopped.
“For Meralco, this implies a one-time refund of twenty-two.6 centavos per kWh plus one other refund that shall be reflected as a separate line item within the bill of P0.0023 per kWh. So, this shall be reflected within the February bills of shoppers,” Lawrence S. Fernandez, Meralco’s vice-president and head of utility economics, said at a briefing.
To recall, the ERC has also allowed the recovery of the remaining P3.277 billion for power generators that supplied the reserve market in February and March 2024.
The approved amount shall be billed to the consumers in Luzon over a period of three months, adding P0.12 per kWh within the transmission charge starting February.
The reserve market allows the system operator to acquire power reserves from the WESM to satisfy the reserve requirements of the energy system. Its full business operations commenced in January last yr.
Meralco’s controlling stakeholder, Beacon Electric Asset Holdings, Inc., is partly owned by PLDT Inc. Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Helpful Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has an interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls.
