| By Donnabelle Gatdula (The Philippine Star) Updated November 06, 2010 12:00 AM |
MANILA, Philippines - The Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) will increase its generation charges this month by almost P1 per kilowatt hour (kwh) due to the rise in prices at the wholesale electricity spot market (WESM) and higher rates of the National Power Corp. (Napocor).
In a statement, Meralco said the increase would be imposed after two months of successive decline in the generation charges totaling P1.78 per kwh.
With recent adjustments, the generation charge that will be reflected in the bills of Meralco customers will be higher by 98 centavos per kwh, from P4.3140 per kwh in October to P5.2940 per kwh this month.
Meralco said generation charges do not go to the distribution company but is paid to power generators such as the Napocor, generators selling through the WESM and the independent power producers (IPPs) with whom it has contracts.
Meralco pointed out that despite the adjustment, the November generation charge is lower than levels reflected in the bills of Meralco customers from March to September of this year.
It said high WESM prices accounted for 55 centavos of the 98-centavo adjustment.
Meralco said the effective WESM price billed to Meralco in October, which is the basis of the November generation charge, was at P11.34 per kwh, higher by over P4 than the P7.15 per kwh rate for September.
The cost of WESM purchases last October approximates the level in March (P11.36 per kwh) and is slightly lower than the peak P12.16 per kwh logged in February this year.
Last month, Meralco purchased 10 percent of its requirements from the WESM.
Meralco said an upward adjustment in the Napocor rate to P4.85 per kwh contributed 41 centavos to the 98-centavo increase.
This was expected since the Napocor rate last month was abnormally low at P3.68 per kwh as it reflected a one-time adjustment that effectively lowered the generation charge by 34 centavos.
Meralco sourced 42 percent of its requirements from Napocor, including the 14-percent allotted for special programs as the ecozone rate.
As in the previous months, Meralco’s cheapest sources of power are the IPPs. The average cost of the IPPs remained stable at P4.23 per kwh, a slight 3.6-centavo adjustment from a low of P4.19 per kwh registered in September.
The average IPP dispatch stood at 86.8 percent, lower than the peak dispatch registered in September of 93.9 percent.
One of the natural gas plants, San Lorenzo, underwent a major maintenance outage starting Oct. 16 and is expected to be back on line on Nov. 12.
Generation charge is the biggest component of the electricity bill, comprising on average about 60 percent of what consumers pay.
To help bring down the cost of generation in the medium and long term, Meralco is planning to put up some 1,500 MW worth of power plants within the next two to five years.
It said this is aligned with its mission of providing its customers the best value in energy, products and services.
Meralco’s entry in generation will help address the expected tightness in power supply, improve reliability and should result to lowering the over-all cost of power to consumers.
In a statement, Meralco said the increase would be imposed after two months of successive decline in the generation charges totaling P1.78 per kwh.
With recent adjustments, the generation charge that will be reflected in the bills of Meralco customers will be higher by 98 centavos per kwh, from P4.3140 per kwh in October to P5.2940 per kwh this month.
Meralco said generation charges do not go to the distribution company but is paid to power generators such as the Napocor, generators selling through the WESM and the independent power producers (IPPs) with whom it has contracts.
Meralco pointed out that despite the adjustment, the November generation charge is lower than levels reflected in the bills of Meralco customers from March to September of this year.
It said high WESM prices accounted for 55 centavos of the 98-centavo adjustment.
Meralco said the effective WESM price billed to Meralco in October, which is the basis of the November generation charge, was at P11.34 per kwh, higher by over P4 than the P7.15 per kwh rate for September.
The cost of WESM purchases last October approximates the level in March (P11.36 per kwh) and is slightly lower than the peak P12.16 per kwh logged in February this year.
Last month, Meralco purchased 10 percent of its requirements from the WESM.
Meralco said an upward adjustment in the Napocor rate to P4.85 per kwh contributed 41 centavos to the 98-centavo increase.
This was expected since the Napocor rate last month was abnormally low at P3.68 per kwh as it reflected a one-time adjustment that effectively lowered the generation charge by 34 centavos.
Meralco sourced 42 percent of its requirements from Napocor, including the 14-percent allotted for special programs as the ecozone rate.
As in the previous months, Meralco’s cheapest sources of power are the IPPs. The average cost of the IPPs remained stable at P4.23 per kwh, a slight 3.6-centavo adjustment from a low of P4.19 per kwh registered in September.
The average IPP dispatch stood at 86.8 percent, lower than the peak dispatch registered in September of 93.9 percent.
One of the natural gas plants, San Lorenzo, underwent a major maintenance outage starting Oct. 16 and is expected to be back on line on Nov. 12.
Generation charge is the biggest component of the electricity bill, comprising on average about 60 percent of what consumers pay.
To help bring down the cost of generation in the medium and long term, Meralco is planning to put up some 1,500 MW worth of power plants within the next two to five years.
It said this is aligned with its mission of providing its customers the best value in energy, products and services.
Meralco’s entry in generation will help address the expected tightness in power supply, improve reliability and should result to lowering the over-all cost of power to consumers.
No comments:
Post a Comment