Meralco generation charge lower by 0.15 centavos per kWh in Dec.

Business Mirror

Published on Thursday, 06 December 2012 20:23

Written by Paul Anthony A. Isla

CUSTOMERS of the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), the country’s largest power retailer, can expect lower power bills this month.

Meralco said on Thursday that its generation charge dropped by  0.15 centavos per kilowatt-hour (kWh) to P5.47 per kWh this month.

Meralco added that the lower cost of power supplied by the National Power Corp. (Napocor), which saw a reduction of 0.31 centavos per kWh, and caused mainly by lower purchases during peak periods in the November supply compared to the previous month.

The lower Napocor charges, Meralco added also offset a 0.04-centavos-per kWh increase in overall costs from independent power producers (IPPs), because of the reduced dispatch of First Gas and Quezon Power.

Meralco said IPP costs would have been higher without the improved dispatch and lower fuel costs of SEM-Calaca. Meralco also noted that charges from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) also increased by 0.52 centavos per kWh.

Meralco added that the impact of the increase in WESM prices was mitigated by a reduction in the company’s exposure to the spot market to 6 percent from 7 percent of its total supply requirements.

Meralco added that Napocor and IPPs accounted for 51 percent and 43 percent, respectively, of its total power requirements.   source