By Komfie Manalo
The normalization of power rate computation will result in an additional P430 in electricity bills this month, particularly for those consuming 200 kilowatt hours (kWh) monthly.
On orders of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), the Manila Electric Company retracted its rate increase announcement in June, resulting in artificially lower rates from the staggered collection of generation charges from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) for the power supply in May.
"We again appeal for our customer's understanding of the delayed bills as we sought guidance from the ERC on implementing this month's rate adjustment. Rest assured that Meralco will adjust the due dates to give our customers enough time to settle their bills," said Meralco vice president and head of corporate communications Joe Zaldarriaga.
This month, Meralco will normalize the collection of power costs in its franchise area by P2.1496 per kWh, bringing the per-kWh rate to P11.6012 from P9.4516 in June.
It said power costs normalized this month following artificially lower rates in June and the higher generation charges.
The staggered collection will be from July to September 2024.
Meralco said charges from the WESM, power supply agreements (PSAs), and independent power producers (IPPs) increased this month.
Meralco supplied 38% of its requirement from PSAs, 34% were bought from the WESM, and IPPs accounted for 28%.
Taxes and other charges also had a net increase of P0.3025 per kWh in July.
On the other hand, Meralco slashed its transmission charge by P0.1550 per kWh.
Comments