The Manila Electric Company (Meralco) announced today an upward rate adjustment of ₱0.6268 per kWh this August due to higher pass-through charges.
According to Meralco press release, this brings the overall rate for a typical household to ₱13.2703 per kWh from ₱12.6435 per kWh in the previous month.
For residential customers consuming 200 kWh, the adjustment is equivalent to an increase of around ₱125 in their total electricity bill.
The generation charge went up by ₱0.3749 per kWh primarily due to increases in charges from Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM).
Charges from IPPs rose by ₱0.9476 per kWh due to the nearly ₱2.00 depreciation of the local currency against the US Dollar, marking its weakest level since the start of the year. This affected around 99% of IPP costs which were dollar denominated. In addition, IPPs recorded lower average plant dispatch due to the scheduled maintenance of First Gas-Sta. Rita and First Gas-San Lorenzo from June 30 to July 9 and July 10 to July 14, respectively.
The rate of First Gas-San Lorenzo (500 MW) went up by ₱0.8570 per kWh to ₱9.0790 per kWh while that of First Gas-Sta. Rita (1,000 MW) jumped up by ₱0.8981 per kWh to ₱9.5235 per kWh.
WESM charges also went up by ₱0.4582 per kWh due to an almost 400 MW increase in average capacity on outage in the Luzon grid.
Tempering the higher IPP and WESM charges was a ₱0.2604 per kWh reduction in charges from Power Supply Agreements (PSAs) as a result of lower coal and liquified natural gas prices and improved average PSA dispatch.
IPPs, WESM, and PSAs accounted for 25%, 7%, and 68%, respectively, of Meralco’s total energy requirement for the period.
Transmission and other charges
The transmission charge, another pass-through component of the electricity bill, also contributed to the higher August total rate as it went up by ₱0.1270 per kWh. The increase was due to the implementation of National Grid Corporation of the Philippines’ higher Maximum Allowable Revenue (MAR) and collection of its under-recovery for the years 2016 to 2022, as approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).
Other charges, including taxes, similarly registered a total increase of ₱0.1249 per kWh.
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 Feed-in Tariff Allowance are all remitted to the government.
Meralco reiterates that its distribution charge, on the other hand, has not moved since the ₱0.0360 per kWh reduction for a typical residential customer beginning August 2022.
Customers also continue to benefit from the ongoing implementation of the distribution-related true-up adjustment, equivalent to a reduction of P0.2024 per kWh for residential customers.
Meralco reminded its customers to be vigilant against a circulating text message scam that falsely claims recipients are entitled to a refund and instructs them to click on a malicious link.
The fraudulent messages, sent via SMS spoofing to make them appear as if these came from a legitimate e-wallet platform, claim there is an “adjustment refund” and contains links to phishing sites.
Meralco Vice President and Head of Corporate Communications Joe R. Zaldarriaga clarified that the company does not process any refunds through e-wallets or third-party platforms. Any official refund transaction is directly credited to the electricity bill of the customer without the need to click on any links.
“Meralco will never ask for your e-wallet account details or initiate refunds through text messages. We urge our customers to remain cautious and to avoid clicking suspicious links or providing any personal or financial information through text or email,” Zaldarriaga said.
In addition, the distribution utility reiterated its warning to the public against pilferage of electricity distribution facilities and materials since these can cause accidents and power interruptions.
Under Republic Act No. 7832 or the Anti Electricity Pilferage Act, theft of electric power transmission materials are crimes punishable with possible imprisonment and fines starting from ₱50,000.
Customers can report their concerns through the My Meralco app or through Meralco’s official social media accounts on Facebook (www.facebook.com/meralco) and X formerly Twitter (@meralco). They may also text their concerns to 0920-9716211 or 0917-5516211 or contact the Meralco Hotline at 16211.
