Customers of Manila Electric Co. will see their bills increase by P0.13 per kilowatt-hour in November on higher cost of power generation after a six-month rate reduction.
Meralco said the higher power rates in November ended six consecutive months of rate reductions which amounted to P2.26 per kWh.
A typical household consuming 200 kWh in November will see their electricity bill go up by P26 from October. Their electricity bill dropped P26 in October from the September rate.
Meralco said at P8.55 per kWh, this month’s overall rate was still lower by P1.51, compared with P10.06 per kWh in November 2014. The rate remains the second lowest since January 2010.
The power distributor said the adjustment in the overall rate was led by higher generation charge, which increased P0.09 per kWh to P4.08 per kWh.
Charges from the wholesale electricity spot market, the trading floor of electricity, registered an increase of P1.19 per kWh, after several power plants were shut down during the October supply month.
Meralco said the average rate of the plants under the independent power producers or IPPs, increased P0.10 per kWh, due to lower dispatch of the plants. This was partly offset by lower natural gas prices.
Charges of power plants under Meralco’s power supply agreements or PSAs registered a reduction of P0.02 per kWh, mainly due to the higher dispatch of the Sual coal-fired power plant, which logged a shorter outage duration for the October supply month compared to the previous month.
Meralco sourced 49.5 percent of its power requirements from PSAs in October, followed by IPPs at 45.6 percent and WESM at 4.8 percent.
The company said the transmission cost registered an increase of P0.02 per kWh due to the higher ancillary service charges. Taxes and other charges (system loss and subsidies) also increased P0.02 per kWh.
Meralco said its distribution, supply, and metering charges remained unchanged in November.
Meralco said it was not earning from the pass-through charges, such as the generation and transmission charges.
Payment for the generation charge goes to the power suppliers, while payment for the transmission charge goes to the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines.
Meralco, the country’s biggest power distributor, has more than 5.6 million customers in its franchise area. About 50 percent of the country’s gross domestic product is generated in its franchise area.