POWER RATES TO RISE BY P0.43 PER KWH IN NOVEMBER – MERALCO

Meralco announced on Tuesday an upward adjustment of P0.4274 per kWh in the electricity rate this November (Photo courtesy of ABS-CBN News)

Power distributor Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) customers will have to pay more for their electricity bills this November due to an increase in the generation charge. In an advisory, Meralco said it will increase rates by 42.74 centavos per kilowatt-hour (kWh).

The upward adjustment brings the overall rate for a typical household to P11.8569 per kWh from the previous month’s P11.4295 per kWh. For residential customers consuming 200 kWh, the adjustment is equivalent to an increase of around P85 in their total electricity bill this month.

This also translates to an increase of around P128 for households consuming 300 kWh a month. P171 increase for consuming 400 kwh and P214 for 500 kwh consumption. Driving this month’s overall rate increase is the P0.2884 per kWh increase in the generation charge.

The company said there was also a hike in the transmission charge, reaching P0.0724 per kWh, due to higher ancillary service charges from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market reserve market.

Charges from the WESM also increased by 1.50 centavos per KWh, as average demand in the Luzon Grid grew by about 198 megawatts (MW) while average capacity on outage increased by 179 MW. While taxes and other charges grew by 6.66 centavos per kWh.

Meralco vice president and head of Corporate Communications Joe Zaldarriaga said that while power consumption usually drops during the colder months, activities related to holidays and festive events may jack up energy use.

Meanwhile, as the holiday season approaches, Meralco reiterated its reminder to the public to remain vigilant against illegal electricity service connections which can cause accidents and power interruptions.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer 

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