Another electricity rate hike looms
MANILA, Philippines - Another power rate increase looms this month as plant outages threaten to push up generation charge, an official of the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), the country’s biggest power distributor, said yesterday.
“Indications point to a higher generation charge due to power plant outages, leading to low plant dispatch and higher WESM (Wholesale Electricity Spot Market),” Meralco head of utility economics Larry Fernandez said.
WESM is the country’s trading floor for electricity.
He said the universal charge – a separate item in consumers’ electricity bills – would go up. He assured consumers there would be no change in the distribution rate this month following the reduction last month.
On transmission charges, he said it was still too early to conclude if rates would go up.
“We’ll have to see whether transmission charge goes up or down, though the Universal Charge for Missionary Electrification will definitely go up as the increase that was deferred last February will resume this August,” Fernandez said. Meralco may release final figures either today or next week.
Last month, the 1,200-megawatt Ilijan natural gas power plant in Batangas, owned and operated by Kepco Philippines Inc., went on maintenance shutdown for one to two days.
The Ilijan Plant is one of three natural gas plants supplying 30 to 40 percent of Luzon’s energy requirements.
The Calaca coal-fired power plant in Batangas also went on maintenance shutdown for a few days last month.
As a result, Meralco had to implement a manual load dropping or rationing of supply.
In July, Meralco’s generation charge rose by around P6 for a typical household consuming 200 kilowatt-hours, or an increase of three centavos per kwh.
The July increase in electricity rates came after two straight months of reduction in May and June.
July rates went up on the back of higher generation and transmission charges arising from plant outages.
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