Meralco power rates up next month

Business World Online
Posted on March 29, 2012 11:34:08 PM


A FRESH POWER rate hike -- to take effect next month and before May’s substantial National Power Corp. adjustment -- has been approved for Manila Electric Co. (Meralco).
The utility was allowed by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to raise rates by up to a little over four centavos in order to recover P2.87 billion in local franchise taxes paid from 1993-2004.


Electricity bills will go up in the provinces of Bulacan, Batangas, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal and the cities of San Jose del Monte, Batangas, San Pablo, Tagaytay, Lucena, Mandaluyong, Marikina, Quezon, Caloocan, Pasay, Las Piñas, Manila and Pasig.


The increases, to be reflected in April power bills, were broken down as follows:


• Bulacan, P0.0235/kWh;
• Batangas, P0.0062/kWh;
• Cavite, P0.0026/kWh;
• Rizal, P0.0139/kWh;
• Laguna, P0.0299/kWh;
• San Jose del Monte, P0.0082/kWh;
• Batangas City , P0.0294/kWh;
• San Pablo, P0.0476;
• Tagaytay, P0.0257/kWh;
• Lucena, P0.0254/kWh;
• Mandaluyong, P0.0041/kWh;
• Marikina, P0.0160/kwh;
• Quezon City, P0.0282/kWh;
• Caloocan, P0.0399/kWh;
• Pasay , P0.0308/kWh;
• Las Piñas, P0.0245/kWh;
• Manila, P0.0415/kWh;
• Calamba, P0.0008/kWh; and
• Pasig, P0.0007/kWh.


A consumer who lives in Quezon City and consumes 200 kWh a month will see an additional P5.64 in his or her bill.


"It bears stressing that the local franchise taxes levied by the local government units and subsequently remitted by Meralco are legitimate expenses, which the law allows to be recovered from the customers, the same being a pass-through cost," the ERC said in its decision dated February 27 but promulgated only yesterday.


Meralco was directed to "reflect the tax recovery in its customers’ bills as a separate line item using the term ‘TRAC’ (Tax Recovery Adjustment Charges)."


The recovery period, the regulator said, will be five years.


Earlier this week, the ERC said it had approved an increase in Napocor rates under the generation rate adjustment mechanism (GRAM) and incremental currency exchange rate adjustment (ICERA) scheme for the January 2007 to April 2010 period.


Power rates in Luzon will increase by P0.6904/kWh while those in the Visayas will go up by P0.6060/kWh. Mindanao will see a substantially lower P0.0442/kWh rate hike.


This increase will be felt by May and will last for eight to ten years.