CUSTOMERS of the Manila Electric Co. will experience higher generation charges this month, P0.1184 per kilowatt-hour, due to higher power purchase cost from its independent power producers.
Generation charges went down in the past two months totaling P0.55 per kWh. But the February generation charge will go up to P4.8623 per kWh from P4.7439 per kWh in January.
This means customers with a monthly average consumption of 100 kWh will experience an increase of P11.84 in their electricity bill.
In a statement, Meralco said that electricity prices charged by its IPPs went up due to their lower dispatch on low power demand in January.
It said fuel prices from the IPPs also normalized in January. Lower priced banked gas was used in the December supply resulting in a lower cost in the January billing of Meralco customers.
Meralco’s IPPs are First Gas Power Corp. and Quezon Power Philippines Ltd. It also sources its power supply from the National Power Corp. and the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market, which acts as the trading floor for electricity.
But Meralco said its IPPs are still its cheapest sources of supply.
The increase in IPPs prices were partly offset by a P1.36 per kWh reduction in the effective WESM price billed to Meralco in January, which is the basis of the February generation charge.
The generation charge is the biggest component of a Meralco customer’s electricity bill, comprising on the average about 60 percent of what consumers pay for.
Meralco emphasized that the generation charge goes to its power generators.
Meanwhile, the utility said in separate statement that it is committed to invest P45 billion from 2012 to 2015 “to be at par with international performance standards.”
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