Meralco charge to decline by P0.05/kwh

Manila Standard Today
by Alena Mae S. Flores


Manila Electric Co., the country’s largest power retailer, said Monday generation charge this month will drop by P0.05 per kilowatt-hour because of lower prices in the wholesale electricity spot market.


Meralco said in a statement the generation charge for the billing month of January fell to P5.46 per kWh from P5.51 per kWh in December due to a reduction in the price of power purchased from the WESM, which acts as trading floor for electricity.


WESM prices declined by P1.85 per kWh to P7.14 per kWh in December from P9 per kWh in November.


Meralco noted a gradual decline in spot market prices after the normalization of the supply situation in the Luzon grid.


The Luzon grid experienced generation capacity constraints in October following the maintenance shutdown of the Malampaya natural gas pipeline.


Meralco said total energy consumption also went down slightly due to cooler temperatures in December.


The reduction in WESM prices offset slightly higher prices from Meralco’s independent power producers, whose prices rose by an average of P0.13 per kWh, due to lower dispatch level, to 78.1 percent in the December supply month from a high of 94.5 percent in November.


Meralco said National Power Corp.’s electricity charges remained stable during the period.


Meralco secured 42 percent of its power requirements in December from the IPPs, 46 percent from Napocor and 12 percent from the WESM.


The company reiterated the cost of power sold by the generating companies move from month to month based on several factors beyond its control, like fuel costs, the foreign exchange rate and WESM prices.