The electricity rates to be passed on by Manila Electric Company (Meralco) in its billing this November will either be flattish or will have marginal reduction, which is a much needed relief for consumers still struggling from the pandemic woes and the damaging effects of the recent super typhoon.

The power utility firm will announce next week the adjustment on its tariff that will be reflected in the bills to be dispatched this month.

According to Meralco Spokesperson Joe Zaldarriaga “initial data suggests that generation costs for November will be flattish or may have a possibility of slight decrease due to reduction in Malampaya gas prices.”

He explained that the cost impact of the quarterly repricing of the Malampaya gas, as fed to more than 3,200 megawatts of power capacity in Luzon grid, will be reflected in Meralco bills this month.

“After four consecutive months of recovery, Dubai crude oil prices fell again in September. The recent reduction in Dubai crude oil price will be reflected in Malampaya natural gas prices starting this month,” the Meralco executive said.

The gas sale and purchase agreements of Malampaya with the power plant owners had been oil-linked, hence, it follows the swing of Dubai crude price which is the benchmark for Asian oil markets.

Aside from lower gas prices, Zaldarriaga said power supply situation also improved during the October supply month “as demand in the Luzon grid decreased and there was less generation capacity on outage.”

He emphasized that demand in the last supply month dipped “due to occurrence of three weather disturbances – which had varying intensities of tropical depression to storm.”

Given that, Zaldarriaga indicated that overall demand in the power system went down to 10,344 megwatts compared to a higher base of 10,570MW in September.

On the whole, he stressed that the power rates of Meralco will be significantly lower this year versus 2019, with the overall tariff already slashed by more than P1.00 per kilowatt hour (kWh) in successive rate reductions since the start of the year.

As reckoned, the firm’s average retail rate in the last nine months had been at P8.04 per kWh, which is 11-percent lower compared to the previous year. And in September alone, it reported that its retail rate of P7.72 per kWh had been the lowest on a comparative month since 2017.

On top of the widely anticipated lower bills this November, Meralco customers in the 200-kilowatt hour consumption level who had arrears during the pandemic-induced lockdown period will also be accorded with ‘no disconnection’ consideration on their electricity service – and that will last until December 31 this year.