Meralco slashes power rates for Christmas season

MANILA, Philippines — Meralco announced on Monday a cut in its power rates, resulting in lowered electricity bills for customers throughout December.

In a statement, Meralco said it would cut the rates by P0.7961 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) to P11.2584 per kWh in December from P12.0545 in November.

Customers using 200 kWh will see a P159 reduction in their electricity bills as a result.

Meralco attributed the decline in power rates to decreased generation charges stemming from lower fees within the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) and Independent Power Producers (IPPs).

“WESM charges decreased by P2.7624 per kWh with the improved supply situation in the Luzon grid as demand went down by around 421 MW and average plant capacity on outage decreased by about 679 MW,” Meralco said in a statement.

IPPs dropped by P0.4731 per kWh. Meralco mentioned using less expensive fuel and lower global coal prices as reasons.

For December, WESM covered 20%, and IPPs accounted for 32% of Meralco's energy needs.