Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) said electricity rates will decline for the second straight month, giving households some relief even as higher fuel costs and a weaker peso push up generation expenses.
Meralco said Thursday that its overall rate for September fell by P0.0409 per kilowatt-hour to P14.7424 from P14.7833 in August.
For a typical household consuming 200 kilowatt-hours, the reduction translates to about P8 in savings on the monthly bill, according to Meralco Vice President and Head of Corporate Communications Joe R. Zaldarriaga.
The latest cut was driven mainly by lower ancillary service charges and taxes, which more than offset a P0.4232-per-kWh increase in the generation charge.
Ancillary service charges imposed by the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines declined by P0.3344 per kWh, largely because of lower Reserve Market charges.
Taxes and other charges also fell by a net P0.1657 per kWh, partly because the completion of maintenance at the Malampaya gas facility allowed First Gas and Prime CoreGen plants to fully use indigenous natural gas, which is exempt from value-added tax.
The increase in generation costs, meanwhile, reflected the peso’s depreciation and higher fuel prices amid the recent escalation of the Middle East conflict. Lower Wholesale Electricity Spot Market charges provided some offset as Luzon power demand fell by about 1,200 megawatts because of prevailing weather conditions.
Power Supply Agreements accounted for about 71 percent of Meralco’s supply, followed by First Gas and Prime CoreGen at 24 percent and WESM at 4 percent.
Customers are also receiving two simultaneous refunds totaling P1.0139 per kWh for residential users, providing additional relief.
Meralco’s distribution charge for a typical residential customer has remained unchanged since August 2022, with most monthly movements reflecting pass-through costs rather than changes in the utility’s own distribution charge.
