The Manila Electric Company (MERALCO) is increasing its power rates for May by Php0.1853 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) to Php8.4067/kWh from Php8.592/kWh in April or around by around Php37 for residential customers consuming 200 kWh monthly.
The rate hike comes as the company has completed the refund of over-recovery in pass-through charges, which the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) ordered in late December 2020.
MERALCO implemented the ERC-approved adjustments starting last January and completed the refund of around Php0.15/kWh in over-recoveries last April.
The increase was tempered, however, by MERALCO’s continuing implementation of the Distribution Rate True-Up refund, which began last March. The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) provisionally approved MERALCO’s proposal to refund around Php13.9 billion over a period of 24 months or until the amount is fully refunded.
Generation charge for May slightly increased by Php0.0104/kWh to Php4.5474 per kWh from last month’s Php4.537/kWh.
Charges from the Power Supply Agreements increased by Php0.2541/kWh due to the low dispatch of San Gabriel natural gas plant resulting from the ongoing restriction of Malampaya gas field’s supply. Wholesale Electricity Spot Market charges also remained high due to tight supply conditions in the Luzon Grid as capacity on outage stayed above 3,300 MW and Luzon peak demand in April still exceeded 10,400 megawatts. However, these were offset by lower charges from the Independent Power Producers (IPPs), which decreased by Php0.1921/kWh.
