Expect P1 per kWh Meralco hike during Malampaya shutdown—DOE

DOE Sec. Alfonso Cusi LYN RILLON/Philippine Daily Inquirer

Department of Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi on Thursday said that consumers will likely experience an estimate of P1 per kilowatt-hour increase in electricity upon Malampaya gas-to-power’s maintenance shutdown next year.

“There will be an increase, but what we will do is to minimize the increase to soften the burden to our consuming public,” Cusi said.

The Malampaya natural gas facility is scheduled for maintenance from January 28 to February 16, which may lead to an electric supply deficit of 700 megawatts.

Cusi said that Manila Electric Company’s (Meralco) simulation sees an increase of around P1/kWh on the generation cost that will be billed in March next year.

Meralco has factored the possible Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) prices due to plant outages and the generation cost of natural gas plants owing to change in liquid fuel, which is more expensive than the natural gas produced by Malampaya.

“My directive was clear: the Malampaya maintenance activities should pose no substantial impact to supply of electricity by using all available resources and remedies, because power is a basic necessity for our countrymen,” Cusi said.

He also said that before the actual shutdown, plans and alternative modes should already be in place. JE/rga