Meralco bills to rise in October as generation costs climb

MANILA—Consumers will be facing higher Meralco bills this October as generation costs rise. 

Meralco said power rates will rise by P0.32 per kilowatt-hour, which means that consumers can expect the following additional costs to their electric bills:

Consumption	Additional Cost
200 kWh	P64
300 kWh	P96
400 kWh	P128
500 kWh	P160

Meralco attributes the higher prices of electricity to more expensive liquified natural gas used by First Gen power plants, which are suppliers of Meralco. Prices at the spot market also went up but Meralco only sources a minimal portion of its supply from there.

With the increase, Meralco’s overall rate for a typical household goes up to P15.0615 from P14.7424 per kWh in September.

“Charges from First Gas/Prime CoreGen went up by P3.2206 per kWh due to higher fuel costs as a result of its utilization of liquefied natural gas for September supply, the price of which remains elevated with the ongoing Middle East conflict; as well as the weakening of the Peso against the US Dollar that affected around 89 percent of First Gas/Prime CoreGen costs that were dollar-denominated,” said Meralco in a statement.

This computation does not yet include the P2.6 billion refund ordered by the Energy Regulatory Commission or the P1.48/kWh increase in the distribution charge approved by regulators.

Meralco said it cannot yet say if the company will file a motion for reconsideration on the decision, considering that it sought a P2.34/kwh average distribution rate.

The company has yet to receive an official copy of the decision.

Meanwhile, the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines said spot market prices rose in Luzon and Visayas while prices in the Mindanao spot market went down.