Meralco rates down anew

MANILA, Philippines - Power rates will go down for the sixth consecutive month this October due to lower generation charge, the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) announced yesterday.

Meralco said the overall rates for residential customers would go down by P0.13 per kilowatt hour, bringing the total reduction to P2.26 per kwh over the past six months.

Meralco said this month’s rate is the lowest since January 2010.

At P8.42 per kwh, this month’s overall rate is lower by P2.05 compared to P10.47 per kwh in October last year.

Overall electricity bill of a typical household consuming 200 kwh will go down by P26 compared to last month, according to Meralco.

It said the decline in overall rates was due to the P0.14 per kwh decrease in generation charge.

Charges from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market also registered a reduction of P3.71 per kwh.

“This was due to higher plant availability in September as compared to August,” Meralco said.

In addition to the generation charge, other charges (system loss and subsidies) decreased by P0.01 per kwh.

On the other hand, the rate from independent power producers increased by P0.08 per kwh. Plants under the Power Supply Agreements also registered an increase of P0.18 per kwh due to the lower dispatch of some power plants such as the Ilijan plant.

Transmission charge registered an increase of P0.01 per kwh due to high ancillary services. Taxes also increased by P0.01 per kwh.