Ahead of official announcements of rate adjustments for the month of October, the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) said the cost of electricity in its franchise could remain unchanged.
Lawrence Fernandez, Meralco vice president and head of utility economics department, attributed this to the depreciation of the peso against the US dollar that could have pulled down generation charges.
“It can be recalled that the Philippine peso depreciated to 51 versus the greenback (last) week and will continue to impact charges from independent power producers which are almost wholly dollar-denominated,” Fernandez said.
Meralco’s official announcement of rate adjustments is expected within the week.
Last month, Meralco implemented a P0.1055 per kilowatt hour (kWh) increase due to the effects of higher generation charge as the cost for natural gas-fired power plants temporarily running on liquid fuel is more costly. The adjustment was equivalent to an increase of around P21 in the bill of a residential customer consuming 200 kWh monthly and brought overall power rates to P9.1091 per kWh from last month’s P9.0036 per kWh.
Meanwhile, Meralco in a separate statement said the partnership with the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) is further expected to clear electric poles that are obstructing traffic flow.
A memorandum of understanding signed with the DILG last year also involves the resolution of illegal connections that usually cause fires, delays in issuance of permits and the need to relocate electric poles due to government projects. – Jed Macapagal
