Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) said November power rates will go up by P0.4717 per kilowatt hour (kWh) mainly attributed to higher cost of power from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM).
The second consecutive upward rate adjustment will be equivalent to an increase of around P94 in the bill of a residential customer consuming 200 kWh monthly. It brings overall power rates to P9.5579 per kWh from October’s P9.0862 per kWh.
Meralco said from P4.5406 per kWh last month, generation charge increased to P5.0317 per kWh, an upward adjustment of P0.4911 per kWh.
The company said charges from WESM increased by P3.8016 per kWh driven by tighter supply conditions in the Luzon grid as it was placed on yellow alert last October 14 and 15 due to forced outages of several power plants and the maintenance shutdown of the Malampaya natural gas facility from October 12 to 15.
Spot market prices also rose as the net settlement surplus refund ordered by the Energy Regulatory Commission last August was significantly lower for November at around P21 million only compared to the refund last September and October that reached almost P1 billion.
Cost of power from independent power producers (IPPs) and power supply agreements (PSAs) decreased by P0.0476 per kWh and P0.2643 per kWh, respectively, due to higher average plant dispatch, lower coal prices, and the strengthening of the peso against the US dollar.
Transmission charge for residential customers decreased by P0.0767 per kWh as a result of lower ancillary service charges from the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) but taxes and other charges registered an increase of P0.0573 per kWh.
Meralco’s interim distribution rates comprised of distribution, supply and metering charges, the only bill component paid to the company remained at P1.381 per kWh for 52 months.
Payment for the generation charge goes to the power suppliers, while payment for the transmission charge goes to the NGCP while taxes and other public policy charges like the FIT-All are collected by government.
The company also stated that the total power requirements for the month were accounted to 16 percent from WESM, 39 percent from IPPs and 45 percent from power plants under PSAs.
