The summer heat will somehow be eased, as customers of Manila Electric Company (Meralco) are expected to enjoy reduction in their electric bills this month. There was preliminary expectation of a rate hike, but in the final computation, there were factors that ended up pulling down the overall cost adjustment despite the remaining portion of a staggered pass-on rate from the shutdown of the Malampaya gas field. According to Meralco Vice President Joe Zaldarriaga, “though initial indications pointed to an upward adjustment due to the P0.20 per kilowatt hour deferred generation costs, softer prices in the electricity spot market and the improved peso value may have reversed the initial forecast.” To note, at least P0.20 per kWh of the resulting rate hike from the scheduled downtime of the Malampaya gas facility last February would be carried into the bill this month; and another P0.20 per kWh in the May billing cycle. Zaldarriaga added that lower charges from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) served as a “mitigating factor” to what could have been an uptick in the electric bills this month. The Meralco executive similarly cited the “lower average capacity on outage” of the power plants in the last supply month; hence, their higher availability also tamed prices in the spot market. “The lower average capacity on outage is likewise a factor in bringing down the cost of generation,” he stressed. The other key element which triggered decline in electricity tariffs this month had been the appreciating value of the Philippine peso versus the US dollar; as this was able to temper cost impact also on the generation charge, the biggest component of the pass-on rate in the bills. This particularly affects the dollar-indexed costs of contracted capacities from the independent power producers. Somehow, the rate hike this April goes against the typical bill increases being experienced by customers within the stretch of summer months. Even the power plants are well-functioning in recent weeks – and their typical malaise of forced outages has not been turning up yet to distress the overall operation of the power system. Consumers in the Luzon grid, in particular, had been incessantly warned of highly probable tight supply predicaments during the summer months that will consequently trigger uptick in electricity rates, but so far, recent developments have been more favorable versus expectations. But since summer months are still far from over, consumers are continuously advised to practice energy efficiency and conservation in their electricity usage.