The Manila Electric Co. on Tuesday announced an increase of P0.4621 per kiloWatt-hour in the May electricity rate as generation charge rose on account of higher prices in spot electricity market and from power suppliers.
The generation charge went up by P0.4455 per kW. Charges from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market went up by P1.7913 per kWh due to the tight supply condition in the Luzon grid during the April supply month as demand went up by 2,401 MW. There were three days with yellow alert and five days with yellow/red alerts from normal conditions the previous supply month.
In addition, the secondary price cap was triggered 19 percent of the time in April versus only 7 percent in March.
The rate hike brings the overall rate for a typical household to P11.4139 per kWh from P10.9518 per kWh in April. The higher rates will be reflected in next month’s bill.
For residential customers consuming 200 kWh, the adjustment is equivalent to an increase of around P92 in their total electricity bill.
The electricity that Meralco distributes from its power supply agreements also increased by P0.2871 per kWh due to lower excess energy deliveries of some dPSAs which were priced at a discount, and charges from an emergency PSA that covered Meralco’s supply requirements while seeking regulatory approval of PSAs that went through the competitive selection process.
The peso’s depreciation, which affected 14 percent of dollar-denominated PSA costs, also contributed to the increase.
Tempering the increase in the generation charge was the P0.6942 per kWh reduction in charges from independent power producers due to higher average IPP dispatch and lower fuel prices.
This month’s IPP rate reflect the withholding of charges from First Gas, including the incremental Malampaya gas costs for First Gas-Sta. Rita under its new gas sale and purchase agreement and costs related to the use of liquefied natural gas, other than the landed cost of LNG, in accordance with an order from the Energy Regulatory Commission.
WESM, PSAs, and IPPs accounted for 30 percent, 36 percent, and 34 percent respectively of Meralco’s total energy requirement for the month.
The transmission charge, taxes, and other charges also registered a net increase of P0.0166 per kWh. Pass-through charges for generation and transmission are paid by Meralco to the power suppliers and the grid operator, respectively, while taxes, the universal charges, and the feed-in tariff allowance or FIT-All are all remitted to the government.
Meralco’s distribution charge remained unchanged since the P0.0360 per kWh reduction.
