Meralco June rates down by P0.1948 per kilowatt hour
Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Thu, 06 Jun 2019 09:10:41 +0000
A MANILA Electric Co. lineman inspects electric meters high above a concrete electric post in Tondo, Manila. Meralco yesterday announced that it will lower power rates for the second straight month. (Ali Vicoy)
Despite the recurring yellow alert conditions in the Luzon grid, power utility giant Manila Electric Co. yesterday announced another round of P0.1948 per kilowatt hour reduction in its customers’ billing this June.
For residential end-users in the 200-kWh consumption bracket, that will entail an aggregate P39 reduction in their electric bills this month.
Overall, Meralco’s tariff in the June billing cycle will be at P10.0918 per kWh from a higher base of P10.2866 per kWh last month.
The generation charge component, which accounts for the chunk of the billed rate, had gone lower to P5.4158 per kWh vis-à-vis P5.5508 per kWh in May.
For the other tariff components, the transmission charge of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines had declined by P0.0427 per kWh, primarily due to the procured ancillary services of the system operator while for taxes and other charges, they were also lower by P0.0171 per kWh.
Meralco primarily attributed the generation charge cut “to lower charges from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM),” and it emphasized that such happened “despite increases in the charges of independent power producers and power supply agreements.”
It emphasized that cost-purchases from the spot market went down by P0.31 per kWh “despite continued tightness of supply conditions in the Luzon grid.” The utility firm procured nine percent of its supply from the WESM in the last supply month
Conversely, the company’s contracted IPPs as well as its PSA deals turned in P0.0556 per kWh and P0.0717 per kWh corresponding increases, partly due to the weakening value of the Philippine peso versus the US dollar.
“Dollar-denominated costs of IPPs and PSAs account for 97 percent and 68 percent of their charges, respectively,” Meralco has emphasized, adding that IPP-procured supply accounted for 41 percent last month, while PSA-underwritten supply had 50 percent share.
“This second straight month electricity rate decrease represents a total downward adjustment of around P0.47 per kWh since May 2019,” the power firm said.
And as the summer season winds up, Meralco is still cautioning consumers on prudent usage of electricity given the tight supply conditions still pervading in the country’s main power grid. (Myrna Velasco)