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Manila Bulletin devider devider Meralco announces drop in power rates this month

Meralco announces drop in power rates this month

Published May 9, 2018 12:05 am
By Madelaine B. Miraflor Even as the country approaches the tail end of summer, giant power distributor Manila Electric Company (Meralco) announced that it will no longer be increasing its power rates this season as its generation charge – the cost of electricity it buys from power producers – didn't accelerate in the past weeks. On Tuesday, Meralco announced a decrease in overall electricity rates this month, amounting to P0.5436 per kWh for a typical household. Equivalent to a decrease of around P109 in the bill of a residential customer consuming 200kWh, the adjustment this month brings the overall rate to P10.0041 per kWh from April’s P10.5477 per kWh. "The lower May rate is mainly due to the P0.4212 per kWh decrease in the generation charge," Meralco said. From P5.4735 per kWh in April, the generation charge for this month will be P5.0523 per kWh. Charges from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) decreased by P1.0139 per kWh, despite higher demand for power in the Luzon Grid and because of various power plants previously on scheduled maintenance shutdown going back online. The share of WESM purchases to Meralco’s total requirement this month was 22 percent. Cost of power from Independent Power Producers (IPPs) also went down by P0.5920 per kWh due to Quezon Power’s return to normal operations from its scheduled maintenance. "The improvement in average plant dispatch more than offset the upward adjustment due to higher Malampaya natural gas prices resulting from the quarterly re-pricing that reflect recent movement of crude oil prices in the world market. IPPs provided 45 percent of Meralco’s total energy requirement," Meralco said. Also, purchases from Power Supply Agreements (PSAs) increased by P0.2096 per kWh due to scheduled maintenance outage of Pagbilao Unit 1 and Ilijan Unit 1 and the quarterly re-pricing of Malampaya natural gas. The share of PSA purchases to Meralco’s total requirement this month was 33 percent. Transmission charge to residential customers slightly decreased as well by P0.0096 per kWh. With the lower generation and transmission charges, taxes and other charges also went down by P0.1128 per kWh this month. Meanwhile, Meralco announced that it is prepared for the May 14 polls, as more than 180 generator sets will be on standby on election day, to be carried by roving Meralco crews. These generator sets intend to provide basic lighting to polling and canvassing places in case of unexpected power interruptions. More than 300 floodlights will also be ready for deployment and use in case of emergencies, but Meralco also advises polling centers to bring backup lights as well as extra precautionary measure. On May 14, Meralco will have on duty close to 500 responding crews, who will be working 24/7 to ensure that Meralco is prepared to respond to any eventualities.
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