Meralco bill to fall on lower spot prices in August–exec
By Lenie Lectura – August 9, 2024
from Business Mirror
The Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) said generation charge may go down this month due to lower spot market prices, a company official said Thursday.
“We are anticipating a reduction in the generation charge, mainly due to lower WESM (Wholesale Electricity Spot Market) charges. The latter reflects the improved supply situation as demand went down with the onset of the rainy season,” said Meralco utility economics head Lawrence Fernandez via Viber.
Generation charge makes up the bulk of an electricity bill. Last month, generation charge went up by P2.0021 per kWh as WESM charges returned to normal levels following the Energy Regulatory Commission’s (ERC) directive to stagger the collection of the charges for the May supply month in four equal monthly installments until September 2024.
Last month’s power rates jumped by P2.1496 per kilowatt hour (kWh) bringing overall rates to P11.6012 per kWh.
Fernandez said actual power rates for August will be announced soon as Meralco has yet to receive all billings from its suppliers.
Last month, WESM, the independent power producers (IPPs), and power supply agreements (PSAs) accounted for 34 percent, 28 percent, and 38 percent of Meralco’s total energy requirement.
Meralco reported that average retail rate fell by close to 4 percent to P10.27 per kWh at end-June this year from P10.68 per kW in the same period a year ago.
By the end of June, Meralco’s consolidated customer count reached 7.9 million, 3 percent more than the 7.7 million reported last year, due to its sustained efforts to energize new customers.
Last July, Meralco said it expects full-year core income to reach P43B this year, higher than its earlier guidance of P40 billion, after the utility firm posted strong and improved numbers particularly in May, when it posted record sales.
“Due to Meralco’s strong operational and financial performance in the first half of the year, we are prepared to upgrade our initial guidance of P40-billion CCNI [consolidated core net income] to P43 billion for the full year 2024,” Meralco Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said in a statement.
During a recent press briefing on the company’s first-half financial and operating results, Meralco First Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer Ferdinand Geluz said the six-month volume got a boost from second-quarter sales which reached a new record. In May, the company posted sales of more than 5,000 gigawatt hour (GWh), mainly due to the performance of the residential and commercial segments, which recorded double-digit growths.
