INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
Millions of customers of Meralco will have to shell out more to settle their electricity bills this month, as the firm will implement a 72-centavo increase per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in power rates.
The firm announced on Friday an upward movement of P0.7226 per kWh in April, pushing the overall rate to P13.0127 per kWh this month from P12.2901 per kWh in March.
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This means that a residential customer consuming 200 kWh will see an additional P145 in their total bill.
Generation charge up
The power distributor giant said the jump in electricity rate was due to the generation charge, which went up by P0.7278 per kWh.
Generation charge usually accounts for more than 50 percent of the monthly power bill.
Prices in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), in particular, surged by P3.4205 per kWh following tighter supply conditions in the Luzon grid. This, as the average capacity not available in the grid was recorded at 979 megawatts, while demand increased during the March supply period.
Charges from power supply agreements (PSAs) likewise went up by P0.2811 per kWh after its 400-MW supply deal with Limay Power Inc. lapsed last February.
Costs from independent power producers (IPPs), on the other hand, dropped by P0.4738 per kWh as the local currency strengthened against the dollar.
WESM, PSAs and IPPs accounted for 23 percent, 44 percent and 33 percent, respectively, of its power requirement in the period.