Metro Manila, Philippines – Customers of Manila Electric Company (Meralco) will pay more this month over higher transmission charges.
The power distributor announced on Tuesday, Feb. 10, that the upward adjustment of P0.2226 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) will bring the overall rate for a typical household to around P13.1734 per kWh,
This translates to an increase of P45 in the total bill of those usually consuming 200 kWh.
This is the first rate hike after two straight months of decline.
Meralco pointed to higher transmission charges by P0.1975 per kWh for residential customers.
“Also contributing to this month’s upward adjustment was the P0.0770 per kWh increase in Universal Charge for Missionary Electrification (UCME). This followed the approval of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) of a new total rate of P0.2763 from P0.1993 per kWh previously — implemented beginning the February billing,” the company explained.
“The UCME is collected from all on-grid electricity end-users to subsidize electricity costs in remote areas not connected to the main transmission grid,” it said.
The generation charge, which covers more than half of the electric bill, went down by P0.1073 per kWh to P7.6398 per kWh over lower costs from independent power producers.
