The Manila Electric Company (MERALCO) announced a reduction of Php 0.7961 per kWh in the December electricity rate, lowering the overall rate to Php 11.2584/kWh for typical households compared to November’s Php 12.0545/kWh.
The decrease is equivalent to a Php 159 decrease in a 200 kWh household’s total electricity bill.
This month’s reduction effectively offsets previous increases, MERALCO said in a statement.
Generation charges for December dropped to Php 6.5332/kWh from Php 7.1938/kWh last month. This decline was attributed to lower charges from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) and Independent Power Producers (IPPs).
WESM charges saw a significant decrease of Php 2.7624 per kWh due to improved supply conditions in the Luzon grid, marked by reduced demand and lowered average plant capacity on an outage.
IPPs also contributed to the decline, with charges decreasing by Php 0.4731 per kWh, primarily because of reduced use of expensive liquid fuel by First Gas plants and lower international coal prices, further aided by peso appreciation affecting dollar-denominated costs.
However, there was a minor upward adjustment of Php 0.0805 per kWh in charges from Power Supply Agreements (PSA) due to lower average PSA dispatch.
Additionally, transmission charges, taxes, and other fees recorded a net decrease of Php 0.1355 per kWh.
The collection of the Feed-In Tariff Allowance (FIT-All) remains suspended as directed by the Energy Regulatory Commission.