The Manila Electric Company (Meralco) announced an increase of ₱0.1520 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in electricity rates this November, bringing the overall rate for a typical household to ₱13.4702 per kWh from ₱13.3182 per kWh in October.
For households consuming 200 kWh, the adjustment translates to an additional ₱30 in their total monthly bill.
Higher transmission charge, feed-in tariff allowance drive overall rate increase
The increase was mainly driven by higher transmission and feed-in tariff allowance (FIT-All) charges. The transmission charge rose by ₱0.1468 per kWh due to higher ancillary service costs from the Reserve Market incurred by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP). The FIT-All also went up by ₱0.0884 per kWh following the Energy Regulatory Commission’s (ERC) directive to implement a new FIT-All rate of ₱0.2073 per kWh beginning this month, from ₱0.1189 per kWh previously.
Lower generation charge mitigates overall increase
The overall increase, however, was tempered by a decrease in the generation charge, which went down by ₱0.1008 per kWh to ₱7.9000 from ₱8.0008 last month, driven by lower charges from Power Supply Agreements (PSAs) and the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM). PSA rates dropped by ₱0.2985 per kWh due to lower fuel costs, offsetting the impact of the peso depreciation. WESM rates decreased by ₱0.6273 per kWh despite tight supply conditions in October, owing to downward billing adjustments. Meanwhile, charges from Independent Power Producers (IPPs) rose by ₱0.2481 per kWh because around 99 percent of IPP costs are dollar-denominated and were affected by the weaker peso.
For the month, PSAs supplied 77 percent, IPPs 20 percent, and WESM 3 percent of Meralco’s total energy requirement.
Other charges
Other charges – which include system loss, subsidies, taxes, and universal charges (UC)– registered a net increase of P0.0176 per kWh. This included the P0.0025 increase in the UC, in accordance with an ERC advisory lifting the suspension of the collection of the UC-Environmental Charge.
Pass-through charges for generation and transmission are paid by Meralco to the power suppliers and the grid operator, respectively; while taxes, universal charges, and FIT-All are all remitted to the government.
Meralco’s distribution charge, on the other hand, has not moved since the P0.0360 per kWh reduction for a typical residential customer beginning August 2022.
To report power outages and other concerns, customers may reach Meralco through its official social media pages on Facebook and Twitter (@meralco). They may also text their concerns to 0920-9716211 and 0917-5516211 or contact the Meralco Hotline at 16211