Power rates up this month

After enjoying two consecutive months of lower electricity rates, customers of Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) will see their bills slightly go up in November, pushed up by higher spot market and Malampaya gas prices.

Meralco announced yesterday an upward adjustment of P0.1135 per kilowatt-hour in overall electricity rates from P9.9766 per kwh last month to P10.0901 per kwh this month.

This means households consuming 200 kwh a month will see a P22.70 increase in electricity bills, P34.05 for 300 kwh, P45.40 for 400 kwh and P56.75 for 500 kwh.

Meralco said the increase was mainly due to higher wholesale electricity spot market (WESM) charges following an uptick in demand and an increase in Malampaya gas prices for the period.

Despite the increase in November rates, the power distributor said electricity rates registered a net decrease of P0.46 per kwh since April this year.

Generation charge went up by P0.0817 per kwh from P5.1908 per kwh last month to P5.2725 per kwh this month as a result mainly of the P1.3545 per kwh increase in charges from the WESM.

“WESM charges went up due to higher power demand in Luzon resulting from warmer temperature in October,” Meralco said.

The share of WESM purchases to Meralco’s total requirement this month was 16.6 percent.

Meanwhile, the cost of power from independent power producers (IPPs) and power supply agreements (PSAs) decreased by P0.1450 per kwh and P0.5611 per kwh, respectively.

However, the Malampaya natural gas price increased as a result of the quarterly repricing to reflect recent movement of crude oil prices in the world market.

“Power plants using Malampaya natural gas (First Gas-Sta. Rita, First Gas-San Lorenzo, First NatGas-San Gabriel, and South PremierIlijan) provided 61 percent of Meralco’s supply needs,” Meralco said.

The share of IPP and PSA purchases to Meralco’s total requirement this month was 42.6 percent and 40.8 percent, respectively.

In terms of other bill components, the transmission charge of residential customers increased by P0.0021 per kwh due to an increase in ancillary service charges for the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines.

Meanwhile, taxes and other charges increased by P0.0297 per kwh this month.

On the other hand, Meralco’s distribution, supply and metering charges have remained unchanged for 40 months, after these registered reductions in July 2015.