For the third straight month, power rates in Metro Manila will go up in November due to higher generation and transmission charges, according to the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco).
The P0.2347 per kilowatt hour (kWh) increase this November brings overall power rates of Meralco to P12.0545 from last month’s P11.8198 per kWh.
This is equivalent to an increase of P47 in the total bill of residential customers consuming 200 kWh monthly.
Meralco said the uptick in transmission charge, which went up by P0.1211 per kWh for residential customers due to higher ancillary service charges, pushed this month’s overall rate increase.
The ancillary service charge of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) for regulating reserves went up almost fourfold, from P23.17 per kW to P91.35 per kW while the cost of regulating reserves accounted for around 76.5 percent of total ancillary service charges.
The increase was driven by the Energy Regulatory Commission’s approval last October of an additional 257.78 megawatts (MW) for regulating reserve under new ancillary service procurement agreements.
The Department of Energy similarly ordered ancillary reserves to be procured on a firm basis.
Meralco said generation charge in November went up by P0.0671 to P7.1938 per kWh from P7.1267 per kWh last month due to higher charges from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) and independent power producers (IPPs).
WESM charges increased by P1.0933 per kWh due to tight supply conditions in the Luzon grid while charges from IPPs also went up by P0.1093 per kWh mainly due to lower plant dispatch.
The increase in WESM and IPP charges were mitigated by the decrease in power supply agreement (PSA) driven by lower international coal prices, higher plant dispatch and higher excess energy deliveries which are price-discounted.
Meralco said other charges also registered a P0.0465 per kWh total increase while the collection of the feed-in tariff allowance worth P0.0364 per kWh, remains suspended.
Meralco only earns from distribution, supply and metering charges, which went down by P0.0360 per kWh in August 2022 and has not moved since.
Of the total power requirements for the month, 53.2 percent were from PSAs; 32.5 percent from IPPs and 14.3 percent from WESM.