November electricity bill to go up

By Donnabelle Gatdula (The Philippine Star) Updated November 10, 2011 12:00 AM


MANILA, Philippines - The generation charge being collected by the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) on behalf of its power suppliers will increase by 44 centavos per kilowatt-hour (kWh) this month, the company said yesterday.


For the month of November, generation charge will be at P5.79 per kwh compared to P5.34 per kwh in October and P5.20 per kwh in September.


The generation charge is the single largest bill component and composes around 60 percent of the average electricity bill.


Meralco said the payment for the generation charge goes to different generation sources such as independent power producers (IPPs) First Gas and Quezon Power First Gas Power Corp.’s Sta. Rita and San Lorenzo gas plants, and Quezon Power Philippines Ltd. (QPPL); National Power Corp. (Napocor); and the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM).


Only the distribution component (supply and metering) of the electric bill goes to Meralco.


Meralco sourced about 47.9 percent of its requirements from the IPPs, 41.5 percent from Napocor, and the remaining 10.6 percent from the WESM this month.


Meralco said there will be an increase in the generation charge due to surge in prices in the WESM in the latter part of October.


Late last month, there were spikes in WESM prices because of the full shutdown of the Malampaya natural gas pipeline from Oct. 20 to 26 for scheduled maintenance.


“The pipeline’s shutdown affected the operation of large power plants dependent on Malampaya for fuel. The Ilijan power plant, with a capacity of 1,200 MW, was completely unavailable as a result. To compensate for the lost capacity, coal- and oil-based generation was resorted to by the grid,” Meralco said.