Ahead of official announcements of rate adjustments for August, Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) said the cost of electricity in its franchise area would likely decrease due to lower spot prices at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM).
“While we have yet to receive all the billings from our suppliers, indications point to lower generation charge this month. This is mainly due to lower WESM prices brought about by better supply conditions. In the July supply month, we saw average peak demand decrease by 690 megawatts from the previous month,” said Joe Zaldarriaga, Meralco head of corporate communications, in a message to reporters.
Despite the expected drop in overall rates, Zaldarriaga said Meralco continues “to remind the public to practise energy efficiency to have better management over their power consumption and electricity bills.”
Last month, Meralco implemented a P2.1496 per kilowatt hour (kWh) increase in its rates mainly driven by higher generation charge, as power costs normalized after the Energy Regulatory Commission ordered to stagger the collection of the charges for the May supply month in four equal monthly installments until September 2024.
Last month’s adjustment was equivalent to an increase of around P430 in the bill of a residential customer consuming 200 kWh monthly and brought overall power rates to P11.6012 per kWh from the previous P9.4516 per kWh.
