Meralco power rates to go up in April

MANILA, April 12 ------ Meralco electricity rates are going up in April. The power distributor said rates were going up by P0.72/kwh due to higher generation and transmission charges. These charges are bigger than the P0.20/kwh refund the power company is offering in April.  

This means electricity bills will rise by the following amounts: 

Consumption       Increase 

- 200 kwh               P145 

- 300 kwh               P216 

- 400 kwh               P288 

- 500 kwh               P360 

In a statement, Meralco said generation charges climbed because of higher costs from the wholesale electricity spot market (WESM). WESM charges went up by P3.4205/kWh because of tighter supply in the Luzon grid in March, the company said. Charges from power supply agreements (PSAs) increased by P0.2811/kWh, Meralco noted.  

Meanwhile, the transmission charge for residential customers also went up to P0.0809/kWh because of higher ancillary service charges from the reserve market incurred by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP). 

Source: news.abs-cbn.com