May power rates down by P0.25/kWh

By Jordeene B. Lagare May 9, 2020
https://www.manilatimes.net/2020/05/09/news/national/may-power-rates-down-by-p0-25-kwh/723592/

CUSTOMERS of the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) will be paying less as the power distributor announced a rollback of P0.2483 per kilowatt hour (kWh) in electricity rates for May.
In a statement, Meralco said this brought the overall rate to P8.7468 per kWh this month from P8.9951 per kWh in April.

Meralco Business Centers is now open accepting service applications, payments, and other services. Meralco Kamuning branch in Quezon city have safety procedures such as “No Mask, No Entry” rule, Social Distancing and Temperature Check upon entering. On May 8 2020. Photo by John Orven Verdote

Typical households that consume 200 kWh will notice a drop of P49.66 in their monthly bill. Those with a 300-kWh consumption can expect a decrease of P74.49, P99.32 for those who consume 400 kWh and P124.15 for those with a 500-kWh consumption.

Generation charge for May fell by P0.2537 per kWh to P4.3848 per kWh from last month’s P4.6385 per kWh.

“Because of the very significant reduction in power demand in its service area during the enhanced community quarantine period, Meralco invoked the force majeure provision in its Power Supply Agreements (PSAs) for the duration of the lockdown, reducing fixed charges for generation capacity that would have been charged by suppliers,” Meralco said.

April’s generation charge reflected a P129 million reduction in fixed costs. For both April and May billing months, the reduction totaled to more than P1 billion.
PSA charges went down by P0.2116 per kWh.

This May, the listed firm’s force majeure claim totaled P877 million, equivalent to savings of P0.3452 per kWh, representing reduction in fixed costs and avoided charges from the temporary suspension of the mid-merit supply contracts recently approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission.

Cost of power from independent power producers also decreased by P0.6418 per kWh because of higher average plant dispatch, lower fuel prices, and peso appreciation.

But charges from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market rose by P1.8502 per kWh because of the included line rentals related to Meralco’s supply contracts.

There was no movement for the feed-in-tariff allowance (FIT-All) for this month as the regulator ordered another month of deferral of the FIT-All in consideration of the current lockdown.

Meanwhile, transmission charge slightly increased by P0.0175 per kWh because of higher ancillary charges, while taxes and other charges registered a net decrease of P0.0121 per kWh.

Meralco’s distribution, supply, and metering charges, meanwhile, have remained unchanged for 58 months.