Meralco raises rates for November on higher grid charges
MANILA, Philippines — The Manila Electric Company (Meralco) announced another electricity rate increase for November, driven mainly by higher transmission charges and a new Feed-in Tariff Allowance (FIT-All) rate.
In a statement Monday, November 11, Meralco said the overall rate for households will rise by P0.1520 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) to P13.4702 per kWh, from P13.3182 per kWh in October.
For typical residential customers consuming 200 kWh, the adjustment translates to an additional P30 in their monthly electricity bill.
Meralco attributed the rate increase primarily to the P0.1468 per kWh hike in transmission charges, which stemmed from higher ancillary service costs incurred by the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines.
Another contributor was the implementation of the new FIT-All rate of P0.2073 per kWh, up from P0.1189 per kWh, as directed by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC). The FIT-All contributed P0.0884 per kWh to the total increase.
Lower generation charge helped temper rise. The overall increase was partly offset by a decline in generation charges, which dropped P0.1008 per kWh to P7.9000 from P8.0008 per kWh in October.
Meralco said Power Supply Agreements registered a P0.2985 decrease due to lower fuel costs, which outweighed the peso’s depreciation against the dollar. Rates at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market, or WESM, also fell by P0.6273 per kWh, despite tight supply conditions last month.
Independent Power Producers , however, saw an increase of P0.2481 per kWh, with Meralco noting that around 99% of IPP costs are dollar-denominated.
For the month, PSAs, IPPs, and WESM accounted for 77%, 20%, and 3% of Meralco’s total power requirements, respectively.
Minimal changes in other charges. Other charges—including system loss, subsidies, taxes, and universal charges—posted a net increase of P0.0176 per kWh. This included a minor P0.0025 rise in the Universal Charge after the ERC lifted the suspension on collections for the UC-Environmental Charge.
Meralco reiterated that its distribution charge has remained unchanged since the P0.0360 per kWh reduction implemented in August 2022.
“Pass-through charges for generation and transmission are paid by Meralco to power suppliers and the grid operator, respectively; while taxes, universal charges, and FIT-All are all remitted to the government,” the company said.
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