MANILA, Philippines, February 13 ------ Customers of power utility giant Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) can expect an increase of P0.2834 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in their electricity bills this month due to higher generation costs. This brings Meralco’s overall rate to P12.0262 per kWh from the previous month’s P11.7428 per kWh, resulting in an upward adjustment of around P57 for typical households consuming 200 kWh.
At a press conference yesterday, Meralco spokesman Joe Zaldarriaga attributed the rate hike to a P0.38 per kWh increase in the generation charge, stemming from higher costs from power suppliers. The generation charge, which accounts for over 50 percent of a typical electricity bill, covers the cost of power purchased by Meralco from independent power producers (IPPs), power supply agreements (PSAs) and the wholesale electricity spot market (WESM). Zaldarriaga said despite lower WESM rates, charges from IPPs and PSAs both went up during the period on the back of a weaker peso.
This means IPPs, PSAs and the WESM, respectively, accounted for 29 percent, 43 percent and 28 percent of Meralco’s total energy requirement for the month. The transmission charge, meanwhile, decreased by P0.0013 per kWh, thanks to lower ancillary service charges – fees that support services essential for stabilizing the power grid during supply-demand imbalances. The slight drop mitigated the impact of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) order to recover the deferred reserve market payments over a three-month period, effective February. “The regulatory reset fee adjustments also helped lower our overall rates, as they resulted in a P0.23 per kWh reduction,” Zaldarriaga noted.
Earlier, the ERC ordered Meralco to implement a one-time refund of P987.16 million in collected regulatory reset fees. Meralco’s distribution charge, on the other hand, has not moved since the P0.0360 per kWh decrease implemented in August 2022. The company has estimated another refund of about P19 billion, which was filed before the ERC earlier this month in compliance with the energy regulator’s order that declared July 2022 to June 2025 as a lapsed period.
Under its proposed refund scheme, Meralco plans to implement the refund within 36 months, equivalent to around P0.19 per kWh reduction for residential customers. “The earliest that we might be able to implement it might be March or April (2025), but we will wait for the ERC directive,” Meralco utility economics chief Larry Fernandez said at the same press conference. A lapsed period represents the time that has passed since the last rate adjustment, potentially affecting the pricing and revenue structures of a regulated entity like Meralco.
Source: philstar.com
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