Meralco announces higher September rates

By Alena Mae S. Flores – September 8, 2023, 12:16 pm
from manilastandard.net

Power retailer Manila Electric Co. announced Friday an increase of P0.5006 per kilowatt-hour in September electricity rate on the back of higher costs from suppliers.

This followed two months of price reductions totaling P1.0121 per kWh.

Meralco said the overall rate for a typical household reached P11.3997 per kWh this month, up from P10.8991 per kWh in August.

Residential customers consuming an average of 200 kWh would experience an increase of around P100 in their monthly electricity bill.

Meralco said generation charges for September went up by P0.4323 per kWh to P6.8252 from P6.3929 last month.

Power supply agreements charges increased P1.0362 per kWh on higher fuel prices and the peso’s depreciation against the US dollar.  Independent power producers’ charges also went up by P0.4776 per kWh.

Meralco said the weakening of the peso against the greenback affected around 98 percent of IPP costs which are dollar-denominated.

PSAs and IPPs accounted for 39 percent and 36 percent of Meralco’s total energy requirement in the supply month of August, respectively.