Meralco rates down in August

MANILA, Philippines — Manila Electric Co. rates are down for the fourth straight month, with a P0.4176 per kilowatt-hour drop in electricity bills due to lower spot market prices.

Meralco said its overall electricity rates for this month amount to P9.5674 per kwh, lower than last month’s P9.9850 per kwh. For a typical household that consumes 200 kwh, this translates to a decrease of around P84.

The fourth straight month of electricity rate decrease represents a total downward adjustment of almost P1 per kwh since May, Meralco said.

This month’s lower rate is attributed to the decrease in wholesale electricity spot market (WESM) prices, which pulled down the generation charge.

The generation charge declined by P0.4607 per kwh, from P5.4227 per kwh to P4.9620 per kwh.

WESM charges decreased by P6.2080 per kwh due to improved supply conditions in the Luzon grid, Meralco said.

“While the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) placed Luzon on yellow alert in the first half of July, there was no red alert during the whole month,” it said.

The share of WESM in Meralco’s supply needs went up to 11 percent.

The cost of power from the Power Supply Agreements (PSAs) also decreased by P0.0656 per kwh due to lower fuel prices and peso appreciation. “About 67 percent of PSA costs are dollar-denominated,” the power distributor said.

On the other hand, cost of power from the independent power producers (IPPs) increased by P0.0911 per kwh as a result of quarterly repricing of Malampaya natural gas and continued decline in coal prices.