Meralco rates to increase P0.1338/kWh this August

By Myrna M. Velasco – August 8, 2017, 10:01 PM

from Manila Bulletin

Array of factors that included regulator-approved recovery of stranded liabilities had pulled up the rates billed by Manila Electric Company (Meralco) in August billing cycle by P0.1338 per kilowatt hour (kWh).

That will be a climb in total billed rate to P8.3849 per kwh from the month-ago level of P8.2511 per kWh.

According to Meralco, for household consumers in the 200-kWh consumption range, the overall increase in their bills would hover at P27 for this billing period.

There had been P0.9768 per kWh reduction in the spot market cost of electricity; but the transmission charge as well as taxes and other charges had been higher by P0.0383 per kWh and P0.0577 per kWh, respectively, for this billing period.

“Prices in the spot market decreased this month due to lower power demand in the Luzon grid,” Meralco explained, adding that its purchases from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) in the last supply month had averaged 10.4 percent.

The recovery of stranded debts had been courtesy of Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM) in the total amount of P24.2 billion and was set at P0.0265 per kWh pass-on – and it will be an added line item as universal charge in the bills.

Additionally, Meralco noted that its generation charge had risen by P0.0378 per kWh, mainly due to lower dispatch of some plants and higher cost of procurement from contracted capacities. That was an increase to P3.9763 per kWh from P3.9385 per kWh a month ago.

The utility firm qualified that its cost purchases from power supply agreements (PSAs) had been up by P0.2222 per kWh “due to lower plant dispatch resulting from forced outages of the Masinloc and Pagbilao plants.”

Also, its procurement from contracted independent power producers (IPPs) spiked by P0.0642 per kWh mainly due to “the quarterly repricing of Malampaya natural gas prices,” purposively to reflect cost movement in world prices of the country’s oil-indexed gas.

These two power sources accounted for bulk of Meralco’s supply portfolio, with its PSAs taking a fraction of 45.6-percent; while its IPPs had 44.0-percent share.