Meralco sees lower rates in March

Power lines run beside a sign for the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) Makati branch in Manila, the Philippines, on Monday, March 23, 2009. Manila Electric Co. is the largest Philippine power retailer.

Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) said it expects power rates to go down for the second consecutive month in March due to lower rates from its suppliers, a company official said on Thursday.

“Currently, we are still awaiting the final bills from our power suppliers, but based on initial projections, there is a strong likelihood that power rates for March 2021 will go down, as this will be the second consecutive month of decrease for the year,” Agapito Joe Zaldarriaga, the company’s spokesman, said.

Meralco cut its power rates by 7 percent per kilowatt hour to P8.6793/kWh in February or about P14 for the total bill of residential customers consuming 200 kWh per month.

The reduction in generation charge in February was due to lower fixed charges from the Power Supply Agreements.

Transmission charge for residential customers also registered a reduction of P0.0128 per kWh due to lower Ancillary Service charges while taxes and other charges also registered a net decrease of P0.0154 per kWh.

This month’s overall rate, decline of which was driven by the lower generation charge, is also 18 centavos lower than that of the year prior.

“Notably, the March power rate will already include the average refund rate of P0.1528 per kWh, as part of Meralco’s Distribution Rate True-Up,” Zaldarriaga said.

The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has granted the request of Meralco for the issuance of a provisional authority, with the refund to be implemented in approximately 24 months starting March 2021.

“Meralco’s refund rate will be reflected as a separate line item in the bills of the customers during the refund period,” Zaldarriaga said.

To recall, Meralco earlier asked the ERC to approve its petition to refund P13.89 billion of over-recoveries based on its actual weighted average tariff charges (AWAT) from July 2015 to November 2020.

“This projected decrease in power rates will continue the downward trend in the cost of electricity, with overall rates having decreased by more than P1 per kilowatt hour since the start of 2020,” Zaldarriaga said.