The country’s largest power distributor, Manila Electric Company, has announced a power rate adjustment on the February bill of consumers.

In a statement on Thursday, Meralco said an upward adjustment of P0.5738 per kWh will be imposed on the February electricity rate, which brings the overall rate for a typical household to P11.9168 per kWh this month from P11.3430 per kWh in January.

For residential customers consuming 200 kWh, Meralco said the adjustment is equivalent to an increase of around P115 in their total electricity bill.

“Driving this month’s overall rate increase is the generation charge, which went up by P0.4552 to P7.1020 per kWh from P6.6468 per kWh last month, primarily due to higher cost of power from Independent Power Producers and Power Supply Agreements,” the advisory read.

On the other hand, charges from IPPs increased by P1.4764 per kWh due to higher fuel costs of First Gas – Sta. Rita and San Lorenzo power plants, mainly resulting from the increased use of imported liquefied natural gas, which was around 35% to 40% more expensive than Malampaya gas

The price of Malampaya gas, meanwhile, also went up, while the Malampaya gas price to Sta. Rita went up by almost 12 percent following the signing of a new Gas Supply and Purchase Agreement between First Gas and the Malampaya consortium.

Moreover, the price of Malampaya gas to San Lorenzo, which is still priced based on the old GSPA, rose by less than 2 percent.

In addition, Meralco said the Peso’s depreciation contributed to the increase in IPP charges, which were 96% dollar-denominated.

“Charges from PSAs inched up by P0.1558 per kWh due to higher charges from Emergency PSAs and Peso depreciation, which affected around 11% of PSA costs that were dollar-denominated. Mitigating a further increase was higher excess energy deliveries from some PSAs, which were priced at a discount,” it said.

Enroll in ILP

Meanwhile, Meralco has urged large power consumers to enroll in the government’s Interruptible Load Program or ILP to help ensure the availability of sufficient electricity supply for the upcoming dry season,

The ILP is an energy demand-side management program through which large-load customers are asked to use their generator sets or shift their operations, instead of drawing power from the grid, to spare households from power interruptions during instances of Red Alert or when supply is insufficient to meet the demand.

At present, there are 103 companies with 528 MW de-loading capacity across the Meralco franchise area that are enrolled in the ILP. Since it was first implemented in 2014, the ILP has spared as many as 1.8 million households from power interruptions in the Meralco franchise area.

“We are banking on the support of large-load consumers within the Meralco franchise area to embody the spirit of Bayanihan and join the ILP. As we have experienced in the past, the program has been beneficial in ensuring continuity of service even when supply is tight,” Meralco Vice President and Head of Corporate Communications Joe R. Zaldarriaga said.

To better manage electricity consumption, Meralco also advised its customers to embrace energy efficiency as a way of life.

Zaldarriaga said power-saving tips customers can practice are unplugging appliances when not in use, refraining from overfilling refrigerators, regular cleaning of air conditioner filters, and using LED bulbs for cost-saving lighting.