Metro Manila power rates up in October

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Power rates in Metro Manila will go up for the second consecutive month due to higher generation charges, according to the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco).

The P0.4201 per kilowatt hour (kWh) increase this October brings the overall power rates of Meralco to P11.8198 from last month’s P11.3997 per kWh.

This is  equivalent to an increase of around P84 in the total bill of residential customers consuming 200 kWh monthly.

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Meralco said the generation charge for October went up by P0.3015 to P7.1267 per kWh from P6.8252 per kWh last month, due to higher charges from independent power producers (IPPs) and power supply agreements (PSAs).

Charges from IPPs increased by P0.4599 per kWh mainly due to higher cost of fuel utilized by the natural gas-fired power plants, while charges from PSAs went up by P0.1658 per kWh.

Meralco said lower coal prices tempered the increase in PSA charges which was due to the implementation of a second emergency PSA with South Premiere Power Corp. covering a 330 megawatts baseload supply.

Charges from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) also slightly increased by P0.0525 per kWh mainly due to adjustments as supply in the Luzon grid improved last month, with lower average demand and average capacity on outage.

Transmission charge for residential customers also increased by P0.0264 per kWh due to higher ancillary service charge, while taxes and other charges registered a net increase of P0.0661 per kWh.

Universal charges also registered a P0.0261 per kWh increase after the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) approved a higher universal charge for missionary electrification at P0.2238 per kWh from P0.1977 per kWh.

Meralco said the collection of the feed-in-tariff allowance at the rate of P0.0364 per kWh remains suspended as directed by the ERC.

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.

The company said of the total power requirements for the month, 18 percent was from WESM, 35 percent from IPPs and 47 percent from PSAs.

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