Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 10) — Customers of Manila Electric Company (Meralco) can expect lower bills this February as the company announced a reduction in rates.
In a statement on Friday, Meralco said power rate will be down by ₱0.0106 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), bringing the bill for a typical household down to ₱10.8895 per kWh from the previous month’s ₱10.9001 per kWh.This means residential customers consuming 200 kWh could see their bill decline by around ₱2.The power distributor said rates fell in February as generation charge “more than offset” the impact of refund completion, with it decreasing by ₱0.2137 to ₱6.9154 from the previous ₱7.1291 per kWh.The generation charge covers the cost of power purchased by the company from its suppliers, such as Independent Power Producers (IPPs), Power Supply Agreements (PSAs), and the wholesale electricity spot market (WESM).Meralco noted that WESM charges went down by ₱3.7370 per kWh following improvements in Luzon power supply situation, while IPPs also dipped by ₱0.2950 per kWh on reduced use of costlier alternative fuel and the strengthening of the Philippine peso.PSA charges, however, jumped by ₱0.7970 per kWh due to lower average plant dispatch.“The reduction in the generation charge balanced the impact of the completion of the third of four distribution-related refunds, equivalent to ₱0.1923 per kWh for residential customers and is no longer reflected in the customers’ electric bills starting February,” the firm said.
