Power rate to go down this month

The Manila Electric Co. will collect five centavos less per kilowatt-hour from consumers beginning this month.

“After the 7.9-centavo reduction in the Meralco generation charge in January, Meralco customers will see the generation charge in their bills go down further by 5 centavos to P4.45 per kwh this February 2009,” Meralco vice president and utility economics head Ivanna de la Peña said. Meralco, which services Metro Manila and nearby provinces, has over four million customers.

In a statement, De la Peña attributed the reduction to the persistent low prices in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market or WESM.

Moreover, Meralco has cut down on power purchase cost by drawing supply from the National Power Corp. during off-peak hours.

She said movements in generation charges depend on several factors like cost of fuel used in power generation and the foreign exchange rate.

“These factors, all of which are beyond the control of Meralco, will be closely monitored and their potential impact on electricity prices assessed,” De la Peña said.

De la Peña said the decline in WESM prices as well as the use of banked gas have offset the upward adjustment in Napocor’s generation rate as allowed by the Energy Regulatory Commission last December.

“We have always maintained that whatever savings we incur from the cost of power we obtain from our suppliers would be passed on to our customers. The generation charge is a pass-through charge, which Meralco does not earn from,” Meralco vice president for corporate communications Elpi Cuna said.