By: Ronnel W. Domingo - 05:10 AM
March 08, 2019
Customers of Manila Electric Co.
will see their monthly bill go up for the second time in a row this month—this
time with an additional 8.94 centavos per kilowatt-hour—as prices at the spot
market and charges by independent power producers (IPPs) went up.
In a statement, Meralco said this
month’s hike would mean an increase in the bill by about P19 for a typical
residential customer that consumes 200 kwh in a month.
It said that for the March billing
period, its overall charge went up to P10.4961 per kwh from P10.4067 per kwh in
February.
Generation charge fell by 29.66
centavos a kwh to P5.5973 a kwh from P5.8939 previously due to lower charges by
plants under power supply agreements (PSAs). This translates to a decrease of
P1.0768 a kwh in the cost of electricity sourced through PSAs, which was 48
percent of Meralco’s supply.
This was attributed to the
strengthening of the peso against the US dollar, lower fuel prices and higher
average plant dispatch.
This was, however, offset by higher
prices of power from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) and higher
charges by IPPs. Power prices at WESM — from which Meralco gets 12 percent of
its supply — went up by 51.78 centavos a kwh.
This was due to tighter supply
conditions in Luzon amid higher demand for power and more frequent plant
outages.
Also, IPP charges went up by 5.49
centavo per kwh due to lower average plant dispatch.
Transmission charges to residential
consumers rose by 2.88 centavos a kwh, while taxes and other charges went up by
35.72 centavos per kwh.
The utility’s distribution, supply
and metering charges have remained unchanged for 44 months so far.
In the meantime, Sen. Sherwin
Gatchalian said that a bicameral committee had approved the final version of
the bill that could bring down electricity costs by some P1 a kwh.
This, he said, would be achieved by
using the government’s P204-billion share from the Malampaya fund to pay for
the stranded contract costs and debts assumed by Power Sector Assets
Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM).
This would cut the universal charges
passed on to consumers, he said. —WITH A REPORT FROM LEILA B. SALAVERRIA
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