Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 10) — Customers of the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) may pay more this month because of higher charges from alternate power sources to cover the maintenance shutdown of the Malampaya gas field.
In a statement on Friday, Meralco said the electricity rate rose by ₱0.5453 per kilowatt-hour (kwh), bringing the overall rate for a typical household to ₱11.4348/kWh from ₱10.8895/kWh in February.For households consuming 200 kWh, Meralco said they would have to shell out ₱109 more for their March bill.Generation cost is 55% of the billing statement. The rest are distribution (17.5%), transmission (10.1%), taxes (11.7%), and others (5.7%). Meralco’s franchise area covers central to southern Luzon, including Metro Manila.As the Malampaya facility underwent a 15-day maintenance shutdown in February, the company said the generation charge inched up by ₱0.4636 to ₱7.3790 from ₱6.9154 per kWh the previous month.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.This month’s generation charge increase would have been significantly higher, but we took the initiative to cushion the impact in the bills of our customers by coordinating with some of our suppliers to defer collection of portions of their generation costs,” said Jose Ronald V. Valles, Meralco Regulatory Management Office head.The power distributor also said it would implement a deferred collection of around ₱1.1 billion in generation charges, equivalent to ₱0.40 per kWh, to be collected in April and May.Meralco said spot market charges climbed by ₱1.4795 per kWh following stronger demand in the Luzon grid, while IPPs also increased by ₱0.5784 per kWh due to the Malampaya shutdown, forcing First Gas-Sta. Rita and First Gas-San Lorenzo plants in Batangas to tap alternative fuel.PSA charges, meanwhile, remained flat due to the deferral of collection of a portion of PSA costs.
