Lower Meralco bills expected this month

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Customers of Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) can expect lower electricity bills this month following refunds ordered by regulators and lower generation charges.

Meralco’s residential customers may enjoy a reduction of P0.0746 centavos per kilowatt-hour (kWh), meaning a household consuming 200 kWh will pay P15 less.

In a briefing on Monday, the power distribution giant said this month’s rate decrease was mainly due to lower generation charges on the back of lower costs from power supply agreements (PSA) and independent power producers (IPP) from where Meralco gets a huge chunk of its supply.

It noted that all these more than offset the higher charges from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market, where power providers like Meralco buy their additional power supply.

Both PSA and IPP rates were reduced by P0.44 and P0.05 per kWh, respectively. The higher share of excess energy deliveries of AC Energy plants as well as lower coal prices contributed to the decreases.