A Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) official said generation charge in the monthly power bills of its customers will likely go down this month, ahead of the distribution utility’s official announcement of rate adjustments next week.
“Initial indications show a possibility of lower generation charge this coming December. We observed an improved supply situation due to lower demand and fewer plant outages, which are expected to bring down prices in the WESM (Wholesale Electricity Spot Market),” Joe Zaldarriaga, Meralco spokesperson and vice president for corporate communications, told reporters yesterday.
This development may break the streak of Meralco power rate hikes from September to November.
Last month, power rates in Metro Manila went up for the third consecutive month due to higher generation and transmission charges.
The P0.2347 per kilowatt hour (kWh) increase in November brought overall power rates of Meralco to P12.0545 from September’s P11.8198 per kWh.
That was equivalent to an increase of around P47 in the total bill of residential customers consuming 200 kWh monthly.
Meralco had said the P0.1211 per kWh increase in the transmission charge for residential customers due to higher ancillary service charges mainly pushed up November’s overall rate.
Meanwhile, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) said it will consider the computations made by a former official of the regulatory body in relation to the ongoing review of resetting Meralco’s regulated rates.
Monalisa Dimalanta, ERC chairperson, said the agency will consider the assessment made by former ERC commissioner Alfredo Non, who claims that Meralco may refund customers as much as P150 billion and may be subject to automatic rate reductions.
Non said in a radio interview last week his computation also included new rates that Meralco should charge its customers after the refund is completed.
“Now after the refund is paid, the monthly bill will change,” Non said.
The former ERC official also justified that the refund is due because Meralco is charging P1.47 per kilowatt hour (kWh) although the provisional authority rate was just P1.38 per kWh.
The basis of Meralco for its rate is the provisional P1.38 per kWh which is “only temporary,” added Non.
The weighted average cost per capital (WACC) is considered as one of the “building blocks” for computing power costs under the government’s performance-based regulation in setting rates.
According to the current ERC time frame, results of the WACC review and reset for distribution utilities, mainly Meralco, should be finalized by March 2024.
However, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, Senate committee on energy vice chairperson, said the original date set by ERC to complete the review for Meralco has been delayed by more than a year.
