Meralco

Meralco to lower power rates this month

February 10, 2023 Arlene Rivera 472 views

THE Manila Electric Company (Meralco) announced on Friday a reduction of P0.0106 per kWh in the electricity rate this month.

In an advisory, Meralco said the overall rate for a typical household was down to P10.8895 per kWh from the previous month’s P10.9001 per kWh.

For residential customers consuming 200 kWh, the adjustment is equivalent to a decrease of around P2 in their total electricity bill.

The generation charge went down by P0.2137 to P6.9154 from P7.1291 per kWh the previous month due to lower costs from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) and Independent Power Producers (IPPs) offset an increase in charges from Power Supply Agreements (PSAs).

WESM charges decreased by P3.7370 per kWh as the supply situation in the Luzon grid improved with less generation capacity on the outage, lower demand, and absence of Yellow Alerts.

Charges from IPPs also went down by P0.2950 per kWh.

On the other hand, PSA charges increased by P0.7970 per kWh due to lower average plant dispatch.

Meralco’s 670-MW baseload PSA with South Premiere Power Corporation (SPPC) remains suspended following the implementation of a Court of Appeals-issued Writ of Preliminary Injunction in January that replaced the Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) issued previously.

PSAs provided 47% Meralco’s total energy requirement for the period.

The reduction in the generation charge balanced the impact of the completion of the third of four distribution-related refunds, equivalent to P0.1923 per kWh for residential customers, and is no longer reflected in the customers’ electric bills starting in February.

The remaining distribution-related refund, equivalent to P0.8656 per kWh for residential customers, continues to temper the monthly bills.

The last refund is set to be completed by May 2023, the impact of which will be felt the succeeding month.

Meralco’s distribution charge, on the other hand, has not moved since the P0.0360 per kWh reduction for a typical residential customer starting in August 2022.

All other charges, including transmission charges and taxes, registered a slight net increase of P0.0108 per kWh.

Collection of the Feed-In Tariff Allowance (FIT-All) remains suspended following the issuance of the Energy Regulatory Commission’s (ERC) resolution halting the collection of P0.0364 per kWh FIT-All rate for three months from December 2022 to February 2023.

Pass-through charges for generation and transmission are paid to the power suppliers and the grid operator, respectively, while taxes, universal charges, and Feed-In Tariff Allowance (FIT-All) are all remitted to the government.

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