The Manila Electric Co. (MERALCO) has announced a Php 0.5453 per kilowatt-hour increase in its electricity rates for the month of March, bringing its overall rate to Php 11.4348/kWh.
The adjustment would mean an increase of around Php 109 increase for a residential customer consuming 200 kWh.
The increase was pushed by the upward adjustments of generation charges brought about by the scheduled maintenance of the Malampaga gas facility.
Generation charge increased by Php 0.4636 to Php 7.3790/kWh.
“This month’s generation charge increase would have been significantly higher, but we took the initiative to cushion the impact in the bills of our customers by coordinating with some of our suppliers to defer collection of portions of their generation costs,” MERALCO head of regulatory management Atty. Jose Ronald Valles said.
Charges from independent power producers (IPPs) increased by Php 0.5784/kWh net of deferred generation costs. First Gas-Sta. Rita and First-Gas San Lorenzo plants used more expensive alternative fuel during the Malampaya maintenance shutdown. Quezon Power also went on a maintenance shutdown from January 21 to February 19.
Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) charges were also higher by Php 1.4795/kWh following an increase in demand in the Luzon Grid.
Charges from power supply agreements (PSAs) remained flat due to the deferral of collection of a portion of the PSA costs.
As for the coming summer months, MERALCO said that it is in close coordination with the Department of Energy (DOE) and industry stakeholders have readied measures to ensure the delivery of sufficient and reliable electricity service throughout the summer months.
MERALCO is working to secure an additional 480 megawatts (MW) of supply to boost its available capacity to address the anticipated increase in power demand.