As oil firms hike fuel prices, Meralco reduces rates
REPRIEVE FOR CUSTOMERS | Overall rates for October will be lower by P0.0737 due to a reduction in the feed-in tariff allowance, according to Manila Electric Co. For a household with a consumption of 200 kilowatts per hour, this will mean a cut of almost P15 in the electric bill. (Photo by GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE / Philippine Daily Inquirer)
MANILA, Philippines — Even as oil companies prepare to impose a hefty increase in pump prices, Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) announced on Monday a decrease in power rates.
The power distributor said that overall rates for October would go down by P0.0737 to P9.8628 per kilowatt-hour from last month’s P9.9365 per kWh.
“For a residential customer consuming 200 kWh, the reduction is equivalent to a decrease of almost P15 in their total electricity bill,” Meralco said in a statement.
It attributed the decrease to the P0.0619 per kWh reduction in the feed-in tariff allowance, which represents the financial incentive given to developers for supplying electricity from eligible renewable energy plants.
On Tuesday, oil companies will implement upward price adjustments, the biggest on diesel at P6.85 per liter while gasoline and kerosene will rise by P1.20 and P3.50 per liter, respectively.
Rino Abad, director of the Department of Energy’s Oil Industry Management Bureau, said last week the decision of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies to reduce output by two million barrels per day was the major driver behind steep pump price hikes.
First hike in weeks
Dubai crude, the Asian bellwether, is playing around the $92 per barrel level mark while Brent crude, the international benchmark, is trading at around $97 per barrel. Before, at the onset of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, global oil prices breached the $100 per barrel threshold.
This marked the first time that oil firms jacked up fuel prices after cutting diesel and kerosene prices five consecutive times.
Last week, gasoline went down by 40 centavos per liter, diesel by 45 per liter, and kerosene by 85 per liter.
Aggregate increases per liter as of now stand at P15.65 for gasoline, P35.80 for diesel, and P26.75 for kerosene.
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