Meralco says rates in March up slightly by P0.0278/kWh
By Alena Mae S. Flores – March 06, 2020 at 09:35 pm
from manilastandard.net
Customers of power retailer Manila Electric Co. will experience an increase of P0.0278 per kilowatt-hour in their billing this month as the overall rate for a household with average monthly consumption of 200 kWh rose to P8.8901 per kWh from last month’s P8.8623 per kWh.
Meralco said in a statement Friday the higher rates translated into a P6 increase in the total bill of residential customers consuming 200 kWh. The slight upward adjustment of power rates came after two consecutive months of reductions.
“The slight increase this month is mainly due to a higher generation charge, which was mitigated by a refund of over-recoveries in pass-through charges and a one-time adjustment in universal charge-National Power Corp. stranded contract costs (UC-SCC),” it said.
The March rate reflects the approved adjustments of the Energy Regulatory Commission on Meralco’s over/under-recoveries in pass-through charges for the period January 2012 to October 2013.
The adjustments, to be implemented for a period of three months, are incorporated in the generation, transmission, system loss charges and subsidies. For residential customers, the adjustments translate into a net reduction of P0.05 per kWh, excluding taxes.
The ERC directed Meralco to implement a P0.1453 per kWh rate reversal in UC-SCC representing collections in excess of the amount due to Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp.
The regulator directed distribution utilities like Meralco (both private and electric cooperatives) to refund to their respective consumers the over-recoveries in the generation rate, transmission rate, system loss rate, lifeline subsidy rate and senior citizens subsidy rate, also known as pass- through charges.
ERC’s initial evaluation show the DUs’ total over-recoveries ranged from as high as P657.58 million to as low as P107,000 covering several time periods.
ERC ordered 63 DUS to refund the total amount of P2.8 billion. The refund should be done over 12 months, except for Meralco and Angeles Electric Corp., which sought for a shorter period of refund.
