AHEAD of official announcements of rate adjustments for October, the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) said cost of electricity in its franchise area would likely decrease due to lower cost of electricity from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market brought by reduced power demand.
“Initial indication shows a possible decrease in the generation charge in the October billing. This is primarily driven by lower WESM charges as prices went down due reduced demand brought about by cooler temperatures in the September supply month. Also contributing to this is the end of the collection of the deferred May 2024 WESM costs last month,” said Joe Zaldarriaga, Meralco vice president and head of corporate communications, in a message to reporters.
Last month, Meralco implemented a P0.1543 per kilowatt hour (kWh) increase in its rates mainly driven by higher ancillary service charges following the resumption of commercial operations of the Reserve Market on August 5, 2024.
Last month’s adjustment was equivalent to an increase of around P31 in the bill of a residential customer consuming 200 kWh monthly and brought overall power rates to P11.7882 per kWh from the previous P11.6339 per kWh.
