Meralco bills to decrease by P24

GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE/INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) said a typical household that consumes 200 per kilowatt hour would see its total bill drop by P24 this May, mainly due to a P7.8 refund order from the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).

Meralco said on Wednesday that the overall rate for a typical household would go down this month by 12 centavos per kWh, dropping to P10.06 per kWh from P10.18 kWh last month.

The refund of distribution-related charges is equivalent to 47 centavos per kWh for residential customers.

This, Meralco said, will appear as a separate line item in customers’ power bills.

“The immediate implementation of the ERC’s order more than offset the impact of the increase of the generation charge this month, benefitting Meralco customers,” said Jose Ronald Valles, Meralco head of regulatory management.

The generation charge for May went up by 35.53 centavos to P6.2277 per kWh from the P5.8724 per kWh registered the previous month.

Charges from Power Supply Agreements for this month went up by 80.45 centavos, while charges from Independent Power Producers decreased by 43.19 centavos per kWh.

—ROY STEPHEN C. CANIVEL

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