Meralco rates down this month
Rates of Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) were slashed for the second straight month in March, factoring in the approved refunds and decline in generation costs.
In a virtual briefing yesterday, Meralco VP, head of corporate communications and spokesman Joe Zaldarriaga said power rates decreased by P0.3598 per kilowatt-hour from P8.6793 per kWh in February, to P8.3195 per kWh this March.
This translates to a decrease of around P72 in the total bill of residential customers consuming 200 kWh.
This month’s rate is the lowest since August 2017.
Meralco said it will start implementing the distribution rate true-up refund this month, which is the primary reason for this month’s rate reduction.
Last month, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) provisionally approved Meralco’s proposal to refund around P13.9 billion over a period of 24 months or until the amount is fully refunded.
The total refund amount represents the difference between the Actual Weighted Average Tariff (AWAT) and the ERCapproved Interim Average Rate for distribution-related charges for the period July 2015 to November 2020.
Residential customers will see a refund of P0.2761 per kWh in their bills as a line item called “Dist True-Up.”
Meanwhile, this month’s rate also still includes the ERC-approved adjustments for pass-through over/under-recoveries for the period of January 2017 to December 2019.
Last December, the ERC directed Meralco to refund over-recoveries in transmission and other charges over a period of approximately three months and to collect an under-recovery in the generation rate for approximately 24 months.
Starting January, Meralco implemented the adjustments that now stand at around P0.115 per kWh in three months.
Meanwhile, the lower generation charge contributed to an overall power rate decrease. The generation charge is P4.3749 per kWh, P0.0403 lower than February’s P4.4152 per kWh.
The reduction was due to the higher share of supply from the wholesale electricity spot market (WESM), which registered the lowest charge among suppliers.
“Despite an increase in Luzon peak demand from 9,162 megawatts to 9,574 MW, charges from the WESM remained relatively stable at P2.4609 per kWh. WESM share was up from 7.1 percent last month to 11.7 percent this month,” Meralco said.
The low WESM charges offset increases in costs from Power Supply Agreements (PSA) and Independent Power Producers (IPPs) of P0.0175 per kWh and P0.1338 per kWh, respectively.
“The higher PSA and IPP charges were the result of the peso’s depreciation and lower average plant dispatch,” Meralco said.
The shares of PSAs and IPPs went down from 53.4 percent to 52.5 percent this month, and from 35.8 percent to 39.5 percent, respectively.
In terms of other charges, transmission charge for residential customers inched up by P0.0022 per kWh, while taxes and other charges registered a net decrease of P0.0456 per kWh.
Meanwhile, collection of the Universal Charge-Environmental Charge amounting to P0.0025 per kWh remains suspended, as directed by the ERC.
On the other hand, Meralco’s distribution, supply and metering charges have remained unchanged for 68 months, after these registered reductions in July 2015.