Meralco sees lower power rates in January
Credit to Author: Jordeene B. Lagare| Date: Sun, 05 Jan 2020 16:12:35 +0000
The Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) sees electricity rates going down this month.
“Right now, we expect the movement of January power rates to be downward, resulting in lower power rates for the month,” Meralco spokesman Joe Zaldarriaga said.
The country’s largest power distributor could make the official announcement on the January rates this week.
“As in previous years, during the month of January, lower PSA (Power Supply Agreement) charges are typically brought about by a reduction in capacity fees as a result of the annual reconciliation of outage allowances done at the end of each year under the PSAs approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission,” Zaldarriaga said.
He said the early completion of annual capacity payment for Sual coal-fired power plant unit 1, Ilijan power plant, Pagbilao plant unit 1 and coal facility in Iloilo City resulted in savings, which consumers felt when the firm reduced rates in January last year.
“We are hopeful a similar situation will occur once again this January 2020,” said Zaldarriaga, who is also Meralco’s assistant vice president.
Last December, Meralco raised its rates by P0.3044 per kilowatt hour (kWh), bringing overall prices to P9.8623 per kWh for the month from P9.5579 per kWh in November.
Households that consume 200 kWh saw an increase of P61 in their monthly bill; a 300-kWh consumption, P91.32; 400 kWh, P121.76; and 500 kWh, P152.2.
“Despite the adjustment, electricity rate this month is still around P0.70 per kWh lower than in April 2019,” Meralco said at that time.