Higher generation charge led to an increase in power rates for Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) consumers this month.
The utility firm said on Wednesday that after four straight months of reduction totaling P0.35, there is a slight increase in the rate for a typical household this December of P0.1011 per kilowatt hour (kWh). This brings December power rates to P8.36 per kWh.
Meralco said the overall rate is still lower by P0.25 per kWh, compared to December 2015’s P8.61 per kWh.
For household with monthly consumption of 200 kWh, this translates to an increase of around P20 in the total electricity bill; P30 for those with a monthly consumption of 300kWh; P40 for 400 kWh; and P50 for 500 kWh.
Meralco said there was an increase in the generation charge, which is P0.0915 per kWh higher than last month’s P3.8436 per kWh. At P3.9351 per kWh, the generation charge is P0.1948 per kWh lower compared to December 2015’s P4.1299 per kWh.
The increase resulted mainly from a significant weakening of the peso against the US dollar. From a level of 46.580 per dollar in August, the peso depreciated to 48.405 per dollar in October, and further to 49.73 per dollar in November.
Partly because of this, the cost of power from the Independent Power Producers (IPPs), whose billings are around 96-percent dollar-denominated, increased by P0.2615 per kWh. The increase is also due to lower dispatch this month with the scheduled maintenance of Santa Rita Module 30 during the whole supply month. The share of the IPPs to Meralco’s total requirements for November was at 36.4 percent.
Cost of power sourced from plants under the Power Supply Agreements (PSAs) also increased by P0.2214 per kWh mainly due to higher fuel cost and the weakening of the peso against US dollar. PSA billings are likewise affected by peso depreciation, as around two-thirds of their costs are dollar-denominated. The share of PSAs stood at 40.8 percent.
On the other hand, overall charges from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) decreased by P0.3734 per kWh, which partly mitigated the higher charges from the IPPs and PSAs. Spot prices have remained low in November because of lower demand and fewer outages compared to last month. The share of WESM purchases to Meralco’s total requirements went up from 20.1 percent to 22.5 percent.
Meralco also noted an increase in the transmission charge of residential customers by P0.0031 per kWh, mainly due to the slight increase in the ancillary service charges. Taxes and other charges also increased by a combined amount of around P0.0065 per kWh.
Meralco’s distribution, supply and metering charges, meanwhile, have remained unchanged for 17 months, after these registered reductions in July 2015. Meralco reiterated that it does not earn 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 Corp. of the Philippines.