The Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) said bidding for 260 megawatts (MW) of electricity intended to beef up its supply for the summer months has failed for the second time.
“Under the rules of the ERC (Energy Regulatory Commission), after two failed bids… Then the utility may engage, may enter into negotiated procurement. So, we can still look for a supplier,” said Lawrence Fernandez, Meralco vice president and head of utility economics department, in a briefing last Friday.
Fernandez said if no power generator will negotiate with Meralco for the said capacity, the company will have to source it from the wholesale electricity spot market (WESM.)
Meanwhile, Meralco said power rates in Metro Manila will go up in March, the third consecutive month.
The P0.0229 per kilowatt hour (kWh) increase this March brings overall power rates of Meralco to P11.9397 from last month’s P11.9168 per kWh.
It is equivalent to an increase of less than P5 in the total bill of residential customers consuming 200 kWh monthly.
Meralco said this month’s overall rate increase is mainly driven by the P0.3976 per kWh increase in the transmission charge for residential customers due to higher ancillary service charges, which more than tripled this month and now account for around 52 percent of total transmission costs.
If not for the P0.3518 per kWh reduction in the generation charge, the increase in this month’s power rates could have been higher.
The company said 51 percent of total power requirements for the month were from power supply agreements; 22 percent from independent power producers and 22 percent from WESM.
Meanwhile, Meralco subsidiary, Meralco PowerGen Corp. (MGen) has kicked off the development of its 49 MW solar project in Isabela.
MGen Renewable Energy Inc., the renewable energy arm of MGen, said the project being developed by Greenergy for Global Inc. is scheduled to have its commercial operations date on the first quarter of 2025.
The Isabela solar power project is among the winning bidders in the Department of Energy’s second round of Green Energy Auction Program which provides incentivized rates to qualified renewable energy projects. -Jed Macapagal