ELECTRICITY RATES WILL BE HIGHER THIS MONTH

The Manila Times
July 10, 2014 11:05 pm
by Ritchie A. Horario

THE Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) will raise rates in its July billing by 3 centavos per kilowatt-hour for a typical household consuming 200 kWh, which is equivalent to a P6 increase.
The increase comes after two straight months of lower billings—5 centavos in May and 84 centavos in June.
Meralco attributed the increase to higher generation and transmission charges.
The generation charge for July went up by 10 centavos per kWh from P5.31 in June to P5.41.
This was primarily due to the 26 centavo and 10 centavo per kWh increase in the average rate of suppliers with Power Supply Agreements (PSAs) with Meralco, and the rate of Independent Power Producers (IPPs), respectively.
The increases were partly offset by the P4.24 per kWh drop in the average price of power sold by the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM).
Contributing to the increase in the generation charge were the lower output of a number of power plants due to scheduled and unscheduled outages in June. Among the plants are Pagbilao 1 and San Lorenzo Units 50 and 60.
A reduction in Meralco’s distribution charge will temper the overall increase in the July bill.
A favorable peso-dollar rate coupled with cheaper coal prices also curbed the increase in the generation charge.
In June, Meralco sourced 53 percent of its electricity supply from PSAs, 41 percent from IPPs and 6 percent from WESM.
Contributing to the overall increase in the bills to households is the 8 centavo per kWh rise in transmission charge.
The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) said this was mainly due to higher ancillary charges, which accounted for around 40 percent of the total transmission cost for the July billing.
There was also a cumulative increase of P0.002 per kWh in subsidies and the system loss charge. Taxes, meanwhile, decreased by P0.003 per kWh.
According to Meralco, mitigating the increases in the generation and transmission charges for a residential customer consuming 200 kWh is a 15 centavo per kWh reduction in the distribution, supply, and metering charges of Meralco. source