Meralco reduces rates in March as part of P13.9-B refund

Posted at Mar 22 2021 03:47 PM
https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/03/22/21/meralco-reduces-rates-in-march-as-part-of-p139-b-refund

MANILA - Electricity rates will be reduced by P0.36 per kilowatt-hour for the month of March, reflecting refunds ordered by the Energy Regulatory Commission, Meralco said Monday.

This means residential consumers can save about P72 for using 200 kWh of power, Meralco said in a statement.

Rates went down to P8.3195 per KWh for March from P8.6793 per kWh in February, bringing electric rates to their lowest level since August 2017, the company said.

"The rate decrease largely comes from the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) conditionally approving Meralco’s proposal to refund to its customers around P13.9 billion," Meralco said.

The ERC earlier ordered the utility distributor to refund P13.9 billion to customers.

The refund was computed between Meralco's actual average tariff and the ERC-approved Interim Average Rate for distribution-related charges from July 2015 to November 2020, Meralco said.

Residential customers will get back P0.2761 per kWh in 24 months or until the amount is fully returned, Meralco said. The itemized amount is listed in the statement under "Dist True-up," it said.