With just a few days left before Christmas Day, the holiday rush has become highly visible in the streets—with bright and colorful lights illuminating the Metro Manila skyline and endless parties throughout the month.

To add to this season's cheers, the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) brings good news to its customers with lower power rates for December.

The distribution utility earlier announced a decrease of P0.7961 per kWh in the December electricity rate, bringing the overall rate for a typical household to P11.2584 per kWh this month from P12.0545 per kWh in November. This is equivalent to a decrease of around P159 in their total electricity bill for residential customers consuming 200 kWh.

The significant reduction this December was able to more than offset the increases implemented in the past two months.

According to Meralco Vice President and Head of Corporate Communications Joe R. Zaldarriaga, the overall rate reduction this month was primarily due to the lower generation charge, which in turn was driven by the decrease in charges from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) and Independent Power Producers (IPPs).

"This month's overall electricity rate reduction is the biggest Meralco has implemented this year and we attribute this to the company's relentless efforts to source sufficient power supply at the least cost possible," Zaldarriaga said.

"Rest assured that Meralco will continue to work to ensure the delivery of sufficient, reliable, and stable electricity service while we continue to invest in the maintenance and upgrading of our distribution facilities," he added.

WESM charges decreased by P2.7624 per kWh with the improved supply situation in the Luzon grid as demand went down by around 421 MW and average plant capacity on outage decreased by about 679 MW. Lower spot market prices also avoided the imposition of the secondary price cap in November. Charges from IPPs, meanwhile, went down by P0.4731 per kWh due to First Gas plants' reduced use of more expensive liquid fuel and lower international coal prices. The appreciation of the Peso, which affected around 97% of IPP costs that were dollar-denominated, also contributed to this.

Lower WESM and IPP charges were able to offset the P0.0805 per kWh increase in charges from Power Supply Agreements (PSAs). WESM, IPPs, and PSAs accounted for 20%, 32%, and 48%, respectively, of Meralco's total energy requirement for the period.

Other charges including transmission and taxes also registered a net reduction of P0.1355 per kWh. Meralco's distribution charge, meanwhile, has not moved since the P0.0360 per kWh reduction for a typical residential customer beginning in August 2022.

Electrical safety tips for the holiday season

To ensure a bright, merry, and accident-free celebration of Christmas, Meralco is reminding its customers to practice electrical safety during preparations for holiday celebrations.

Meralco has the following electrical safety tips for customers this holiday season:

•Buy quality Christmas lights: When buying Christmas lights, check for quality control markings, particularly the Import Commodity Clearance and the Philippine Standard Mark.

•Inspect Christmas lights before reusing: For those who are reusing Christmas lights, check for cracked, frayed or damaged lights since these are potential fire hazards.

•Avoid 'octopus' connections: Don't attempt to plug extension cords into one another or octopus connection. Overloaded electrical outlets or extension cords is one of the most common causes of fire incidents.

•Unplug Christmas lights and other appliances when not in use: Remember to unplug Christmas lights and other appliances when not in use or before leaving the house.

•Have an available fire extinguisher at home: To ensure safety during the holiday season, have a working fire extinguisher ready at home in case of emergencies.

"We encourage our customers to practice electrical safety for a bright and accident-free holiday celebration. Rest assured, contingency measures are in place and our crews are on standby ready to respond to any concern on our electricity service," Zaldarriaga said.

Zaldarriaga also assured customers that the distribution utility's call center agents and operations crews will be on standby 24/7 during the holiday season to keep the lights on for 7.8 million customers.