Customers of Manila Electric Company (Meralco) will be paying for more for this month's electricity bill after the power distributor announced an increase due to higher generation charges for the period.
In an advisory on Wednesday, Meralco said its overall rate for a typical household was hiked by PHP 8.44 centavos per kilowatt-hour (/kWh), bringing the overall rate to PHP 9.9472/kWh this month from PHP 9.8628/kWh in October.
The latest rate adjustment translates to an estimated increase of around PHP 17 in the total electricity bill of customers consuming 200 kWh.
Meralco said the generation charge, which accounts for more than half of the total monthly electric bill paid by consumers for the period, went up by PHP 0.0725 per kWh to PHP 6.9917 per kWh.
Charges from power supply agreements rose by PHP 0.2711 per kWh mainly because of the scheduled maintenance outage of the First Natgas-San Gabriel plant from Oct. 1 to Oct. 14, it added.
"This was mitigated by lower charges from Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM)," Meralco said.
“In addition, the four ongoing distribution-related refunds, equivalent to a total of P1.8009 per kWh for residential customers, continue to temper customers’ monthly bills,” said the company.
Meralco said one of the four refunds, equivalent to PHP 0.4669 per kWh for residential customers, is expected to be completed this November while the other three are seen to be fully refunded by December, January 2023 and May 2023.
