Residents will see a P0.23 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) increase in their electricity bills this month due to higher generation charges, Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) said yesterday.
The overall bill for April is now at P9.89 per kWh, higher than the previous month’s P9.67 per kWh rate.
Generation charges increased from P4.90 per kWh to P5.10 per kWh. The increase was attributed to a rise in costs sourced from independent power producers (IPPs) and the wholesale electricity spot market.
“There was lower dispatch of some plants due to outage and higher prices in the spot market,” Meralco head of utility economics and senior vice president Larry Fernandez said in a briefing yesterday.
Power from IPPs increased P0.39 per kWh because of the lower capacity supplied to the grid by Quezon Power Philippines Ltd. Co.
On the other hand, WESM prices rose P0.78 per kWh due to plant outages and higher power demand, with Luzon posting a 790 MW demand in February.
Taxes and other charges went up by a total of P0.094 per kWh.
Meanwhile, transmission charges decreased by P0.0629 per kWh on the back of lower ancillary service charges.
Power supplied through Meralco’s Power Supply Agreements (PSAs) and Interim Power Supply Agreements (IPSAs) posted a decrease of P0.36 per kWh.
The power utility’s distribution, supply and metering charges have been unchanged for 21 months since registering reductions in July 2015.
For April, households with a 200-kwh consumption will see an extra P46 in their bills, P69 for 300 kWh consumers, P92 for 400 kWh users and P115 for 500 kWh end-users.