Power rates in Metro Manila will slightly go up this month after a reduction in December, according to the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco).
The P0.0846 per kilowatt hour (kWh) increase this January brings overall power rates of Meralco to P11.3430 from last month’s P11.2584 per kWh.
This is equivalent to an increase of around P17 in the total bill of residential customers consuming 200 kWh monthly.
Meralco said the overall rate increase was primarily due to the higher generation charge, which inched up by P0.1136 to P6.6468 per kWh from P6.5332 per kWh last month attributed to higher cost of power from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) and independent power producers (IPPs).
WESM charges went up by P0.5611 per kWh due to higher average capacity on outage in the Luzon grid which increased by around 418 MW. Charges from IPPs also increased by P0.1384 per kWh due to higher costs of imported fuel.
Meralco said the increase in generation charges could have been higher if not for the P0.1522 per kWh reduction in charges from power supply agreements (PSAs) with lower charges from emergency PSAs and higher excess energy deliveries from some PSAs, which were priced at a discount.
The distribution utility added transmission and other charges also registered a net reduction of P0.0290 per kWh while the collection of feed-in-tariff allowance remains suspended as directed by the Energy Regulatory Commission.
Meralco earns from distribution, supply and metering charges which down by P0.0360 per kWh in August 2022.
The company said of total power requirements for the month 20.5 percent were from WESM, 36.5 percent from IPPs and 43 percent from PSAs.
