Meralco to enforce staggered hike in generation charges as inflation bites

MANILA, Philippines — Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) will implement a staggered increase in generation charges to ease the burden of consumers grappling with high inflation.

At a meeting on Wednesday, Meralco informed the government of its plan to defer the collection of generation charges amounting to P1.1 billion covering the January-February period, the Energy and Regulatory Commission said in a statement.

Instead, Meralco would start collecting those deferred generation charges in March and April. Those months typically mark the onset of dry season, when power bills are usually high due to strong demand for airconditioning.

The utility company said its total rate for this month and next could increase by P0.62 per kWh as a result of the deferral of charges, but the ERC said such a hike is “less than the expected increase of about P0.92 per kWh.”

That means a typical residential customer with monthly consumption of 200 kWh would see a total rate increase of P1.11 per kWh when other billing components, such as systems loss and taxes, are included.

“Such increase shall be subject to further validation by the Commission,” the ERC said.

Meralco said electricity bills would have been painfully-high in the past two months if suppliers did not grant its request to postpone the collection of charges for power that the company bought and distributed to its customers.

This is because electricity during those months were more expensive as suppliers had to use more expensive fuels to ensure the continuous supply during the scheduled maintenance outage of SPEX-Malampaya natural gas in February.

Meralco also claimed that energy prices climbed in the spot market, where charges are costlier compared to pre-agreed supply deals. — Ramon Royandoyan