7.2M Meralco customers face higher electricity rates
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Nearly 7.2 million Manila Electric Company customers will pay an additional 33 cents per kWh in December after completing a distribution-related refund equivalent to 47 cents per kWh for residential customers. The increase brings the overall rate for a typical household to P10.2769 per kWh this month from the previous P9.9472 per kWh.
For residential customers consuming 200 kWh, this is equivalent to an increase of around P66 in their total electricity bill.
"There are still three ongoing refunds, totaling P1.3340 per kWh for residential customers, implemented by Meralco that continue to temper customers' monthly bills. These are expected to be fully refunded by December 2022, January 2023, and May 2023, and the impact will subsequently be felt in the subsequent billing periods," Meralco said in a statement.
Meralco's distribution charge, on the other hand, has stayed the same since the P0.0360 per kWh reduction for a typical residential customer beginning in August 2022.
Lower generation charge temper increase
Mitigating this month's power rate adjustment was the generation charge, which went down by P0.1942 to P6.7975 from P6.9917 per kWh the previous month.
Charges from Power Supply Agreements decreased by P0.2079 per kWh as the First Natgas-San Gabriel plant went back online on 15 October, coming from a scheduled maintenance outage from 1 to 14 October. The Peso's appreciation, which affected 38 percent of PSA costs that are dollar-denominated, also contributed to the reduction.
Further pulling down the generation charge was the P1.3985 per kWh reduction in Wholesale Electricity Spot Market charges due to an improved supply situation in the Luzon grid. While the average daily capacity on outage remained at the 3,900-MW level, the reduction in peak and average demand in the November supply month resulted in fewer secondary price cap impositions, which triggered only 21 percent of the time in November versus October's 52 percent.
On the other hand, Independent Power Producer charges increased by P0.0545 per kWh. First Gas-Sta. Rita Module 10 was on scheduled outage from 4 to 11 November and 19 to 20 November, while Sta. Rita Module 40 was also on scheduled outage from 12 to 27 November. The Peso's appreciation tempered the increase in the IPP rate, as 98 percent of IPP costs were dollar-denominated.
IPPs, PSAs, and WESM accounted for 41 percent, 52 percent, and 7 percent of Meralco's total energy requirement for the period.
Transmission and other charges
Transmission charges for residential customers increased by P0.0753 per kWh due to higher ancillary service charges of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines.
Meanwhile, taxes and other charges registered a net decrease of P0.0183 per kWh mainly due to the absence of feed-in tariff allowance following the issuance of the Energy Regulatory Commission's Resolution, suspending the collection of P0.0364 per kWh FIT-All rate for three months starting December 2022 until the February 2023 billing periods.
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