ELECTRICITY rates this month will go up by P0.1135 per kilowatt- hour, bringing overall power rates of the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) to P10.0901 per kWh.
The increase comes after Meralco slashed power rates for two consecutive months. The reduction in September and October amounted to P0.25 per kWh. October power rates stood at P9.9766 per kWh.
The P0.1135-per-kWh rate adjustment will mean an increase of around P23 in the total bill of a typical household consuming 200 kWh.
Meralco said the slight upward adjustment was mainly due to higher WESM (Wholesale Electricity Spot Market) charges following an uptick in demand and an increase in Malampaya gas prices for the period.
From P5.1908 per kWh last month, the generation charge for November went up to P5.2725 per kWh, an increase of P0.0817 per kWh.
The increase in the generation charge is mainly the result of a P1.3545- per-kWh increase in charges from the WESM.
WESM charges went up as warmer weather in October caused a surge in power demand in Luzon. The share of WESM purchases to Meralco’s total requirement this month was 16.6 percent.
Meanwhile, the cost of power from independent power producers (IPPs) and power supply agreements (PSAs) fell by P0.1450 per kWh and P0.5611 per kWh, respectively.
A stronger peso offset an increase due to higher Malampaya natural gas prices as a result of the quarterly repricing to reflect the recent movement of crude oil prices in the world market.
Power plants using Malampaya natural gas—First Gas-Santa Rita, First Gas-San Lorenzo, First NatGas-San Gabriel, and South Premiere-Ilijan—provided 61 percent of Meralco’s supply needs.
The share of IPP and PSA purchases to Meralco’s total requirement this month was 42.6 percent and 40.8 percent, respectively.
Transmission charge of residential customers increased by P0.0021 per kWh due to an increase in the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines’s (NGCP) ancillary service charges. Taxes and other charges went up by P0.0297 per kWh this month.
Meralco’s distribution, supply, and metering charges, meanwhile, have remained unchanged for 40 months, after these registered reductions in July 2015.
The company 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 NGCP. Taxes and other public policy charges like the feed-in-tariff allowance rate are remitted to the government.