Customers of the Manila Electric Co. or Meralco should brace for higher electricity costs this month as power rates increased by 42 centavos per kilowatt-hour or kWh due to higher charges from both power producers and transactions.

The company announced on Wednesday that the overall rate for a typical household slightly went up to P11.82 per kWh this month from P11.40 per kWh in September.

The price adjustment will translate to about a P84 increase in the total electricity bill of households consuming 200 kWh.

Meralco attributed the hike to a higher generation charge, which moved up by 30 centavos to P7.13 per kWh from P6.83 per kWh last month as prompted by a spike in prices from independent power producers or IPPs and power supply agreements or PSAs.

IPP charges grew by 50 centavos per kWh mainly due to the higher fuel cost utilized by the First Gas plants.

Meanwhile, PSA charges also increased by 17 centavos per kWh, partly because of the forced shutdown of the 420-MW First NatGas-San Gabriel power plant from 18 to 24 September. Additionally, higher coal prices also contributed to the increased PSA charges.

Since 26 August, Meralco has been implementing a second emergency PSA with South Premiere Power Corp. covering a 330-MW baseload supply to replace the terminated PSA with Sual Power Inc.