Meralco rates likely down in March

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Ahead of an official announcement, the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) said cost of electricity in its franchise area would likely go down this month

Initial indications of the company cite the resumption of operations of the power plants and lower Wholesale Electricity Spot Market prices as the main reason for the possible reduction in rates.

Meralco said a refund recently directed by the Energy Regulatory Commission due to the new gas sale and purchase agreements is also likely to help reduce this month’s power rates.

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“We are hoping this reduction in the generation charge will be able to temper the anticipated increase in transmission charge due to higher ancillary service charges,” said Joe Zaldarriaga, Meralco vice president and head of corporate communications, in a statement yesterday.

Last month, Meralco implemented a P0.5738 per kilowatt hour (kWh) increase in its rates due to higher generation charges driven by increased charges from power sourced from both power supply agreements and independent power producers.

The adjustment was equivalent to an increase of around P115 in the bill of a residential customer consuming 200 kWh monthly and brought overall power rates to P11.9168 per kWh from the previous P11.3430 per kWh.

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