Meralco power bills down for fourth straight month in August
MANILA, Philippines — Consumers staying and working home during the pandemic and serviced by Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) may see lower power bills for the fourth straight month in August.
A typical household consuming 200 kilowatt-hour (kWh) would save around P41 for this month’s bill as the country’s largest power distributor implements a P0.20 per kWh reduction on overall power charges, Meralco said in a statement on Monday.
It marked the four consecutive decline in Meralco power costs. In July, electricity went down a smaller P0.03 per kWh, and before that P0.02 per kWh in June and P0.25 per kWh in May.
The August decrease was primarily a result of lower costs of power sourced by Meralco from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) and independent power producers (IPPs), which supply the electricity that Meralco brings to residents.
In particular, WESM power went down P1.12 per kWh month-on-month “due to improved supply situation in the Luzon grid,” while those sold by IPPs decreased P0.33 per kWh “due to lower natural gas prices.”
“The significant reduction in crude oil prices in the first half of the year was reflected in the Malampaya natural gas price this month. Peso appreciation also contributed to this month’s reduction in IPP rates,” Meralco explained.
Apart from generation charge, transmission charges, or the cost of bringing power from generators to distributors through the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines, also posted a “slight reduction” of P0.0081 per kWh “due to lower ancillary service charges.”
“Meralco reiterated that kit does not earn from the pass-through charges such as the generation and transmission charges,” the firm said.
Meanwhile, collection of universal and environment charge worth P0.0025 per kWh remains suspended by regulators, Meralco said.
Prior to the last four months, Meralco also pushed down electric bills by P0.41 per kWh in January and P0.59 per kWh in February. After that, there was a cumulative increase of P0.25 per kWh in March and April, bringing year-to-date power rate down P1.25 per kWh.
Lockdown charges
A fresh reduction in power rates would be a welcome reprieve from consumers who, during the lockdown months of March to May, suffered a “bill shock” over power bills that they said, charged way above their typical monthly consumption.
While Meralco had said the power bills were a result of a suspension in meter readings during the 76-day lockdowns, causing monthly charges to pile up, Lower House lawmakers also tasked the company to explain to consumers in detail the composition of their bills.
Over 4.1 million Meralco customers received explanation letters regarding their bills, and consumers were given up to 4 months to fully settle charges which lumped up. In August, those unpaid charges will be topped up on this month's bills, which may make lower rates hardly felt.
Over the weekend, Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi called for “conscious consumption” of energy as the Philippines plunged into an economic recession, or two succeeding quarters of contraction, due to the pandemic.
“I am appealing to our consumers; let us be mindful of our power consumption habits in this pandemic time,” Cusi had said.
From January to June, Pangilinan-led Meralco's net profit dropped 43% year-on-year to P6.8 billion.
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