Lower Meralco rates seen this month

MANILA, Philippines — Residential consumers within the franchise coverage of the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) may see lower power rates in September due to lower generation costs.

“While we have yet to receive all the final billings from our suppliers, we expect a possible decrease in the generation charge this month,” Joe Zaldarriaga, Meralco vice president and head of corporate communications, said.

Adding to the potential drop in the generation charge is the peso appreciation, which reduces suppliers’ costs that are mostly US dollar-denominated.

The Manuel V. Pangilinan-led power distribution giant also saw lower consumer demand during the previous supply month.

“We hope that these factors will be enough to bring down the overall electricity rate for this month,” Zaldarriaga said.

The generation charge accounts for the bulk of Meralco’s overall power rate at 55 percent, followed by the distribution charge (17.5 percent), transmission costs (10.1 percent), taxes (11.7 percent) and other fees.

Last month, Meralco rates increased by P0.0327 per kilowatt-hour as higher transmission charges offset the lower generation costs.

Ancillary service costs or fees charged to maintain the power grid’s reliability surged by over 50 percent in August as charges for contingency and dispatchable reserves doubled.