The Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) has declared the second attempt at bidding its 260-megawatt requirement for peaking purposes in the hot months ahead a failure.
Under the rules of the Energy Regulatory Commission, two failed bids allow the utility to enter into negotiated procurement.
“So, we can still look for a supplier,” said Lawrence Fernandez, Meralco vice president and head of utility economics department, in a briefing.
Fernandez said should Meralco be unable to find anyone willing to negotiate with them, then the power distributor may have to buy its requirement from the Wholesale Electricity Spot market (WESM.)
This development heightens the likelihood for power rates in Metro Manila to adjust higher for the third month in a series, according to Meralco.
The P0.0229 per kilowatt hour (kWh) increase in March brings overall rate to P11.9397 from previous month’s P11.9168 per kWh. This also amounts to an increase of less than P5 for residential customers consuming 200 kWh monthly.
Meralco said the rate increase in March is driven by the P0.3976 per kWh increase in the transmission charge for residential customers due to higher ancillary service charges which more than tripled during the month and accounts for 52 percent of the total transmission cost.
Were it not for the P0.3518 per kWh reduction in the generation charge, the increase in the March billing cycle could have been higher.
Meralco said its power requirement in March is provided 22 percent from WESM, 27 percent from independent power producers and 51 percent from power supply agreements.
On the other hand, Meralco subsidiary, Meralco PowerGen Corp. (MGen) has kicked off the development of its 49 MW solar project in Isabela.
MGen Renewable Energy Inc., the renewable energy arm of MGen, said the project being developed by Greenergy for Global Inc. is scheduled to have its commercial operations date on the first quarter of 2025.
The Isabela solar power project is among the winning bidders in the Department of Energy’s second round of Green Energy Auction Program which provides incentivized rates to qualified renewable energy projects.
