Meralco Cuts Generation Charge

Manila Bulletin
By ELLSON A. QUISMORIO and MYRNA M. VELASCO
March 6, 2012, 10:09pm


MANILA, Philippines — The Manila Electric Company (Meralco) Tuesday announced a P0.24 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) reduction in generation charge on its customers’ electric bills this month.


From February’s rate of P5.57 per kWh, Meralco’s generation charge this month would drop to P5.33 per kWh. “Hopefully this turns out to be good news for electricity consumers,” said Meralco spokesman Joe Zaldarriaga.


With the rate drop, a household consuming 100 kWh of electricity a month would see a decrease of P24 on its next power bill.


Multiple factors apparently led to the lowered generation charge. “What we saw were lowered rates from independent power plants due to a slightly higher dispatch. There was appreciation by the Peso against the US dollar.


“At the same time we saw reduced charges in the (wholesale electricity) spot market (WESM). This was probably caused by the improved availability among the generation units, most particular the coal-fired plants. So this led to the softening of rates in the spot market,” the spokesperson explained.


Meralco cornered five percent of its supply from the spot market last month.


“WESM charges were lower by P5.04 (per kWh) compared to the previous month,” Meralco said, emphasizing the “improved availability among the generating companies, especially the coal-fired plants” as the major cost-reducing factor.


Meralco, the country’s largest power distributor, increased generation charge by P0.11 per kWh last month.


Last January, Meralco customers enjoyed a P0.05 per kWh decrease in generation charge compared to that of December.