Households served by Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) will pay more for electricity this month, the second straight monthly increase in power rates as higher generation costs, taxes, and transmission charges have pushed up consumer bills.

Meralco on Friday said its overall residential rate increased by P0.3428 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) to P14.8261 per kWh this month from P14.4833 per kWh in June. 

For a typical household consuming 200 kWh, the adjustment translates to an additional P69 in the monthly electricity bill.

The increase was driven mainly by a higher generation charge, which rose by P0.1800 per kWh to P9.2504 per kWh from P9.0704 per kWh in the previous billing period.

Charges from First Gas/Prime CoreGen rose by P0.3613 per kWh to P10.6489 per kWh.

Meanwhile, charges under post-EPIRA Power Supply Agreements (PSAs) increased by P0.2678 per kWh to P8.8694 per kWh still due to the impact of the Middle East conflict on global energy prices.

Prices at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) also rose to P8.0337 per kWh after Luzon's electricity demand reached a record 14,534 megawatts on 28 May.

Tighter supply conditions in the grid notably led to more frequent imposition of the secondary price cap, which was triggered 11.1 percent of the time during the billing period.

Consumers also paid higher taxes, which increased by P0.0960 per kWh, largely because LNG is subject to the 12 percent value-added tax.

Transmission and other charges likewise rose by P0.0668 per kWh.

Meralco said the Energy Regulatory Commission extended the suspension of the P0.0371 per kWh Green Energy Auction Allowance until August, sparing consumers from an additional charge.

The utility said generation and transmission charges are pass-through costs, while taxes, universal charges and the Feed-in Tariff Allowance are remitted to the government. Its distribution charge has remained unchanged since August 2022.

Separately, Meralco encouraged more consumers to switch to the competitive retail electricity market after the Energy Regulatory Commission lowered the Retail Competition and Open Access threshold to 100 kilowatts effective 26 June.

It said households and small businesses can also choose their electricity supplier through the Retail Aggregation Program by combining their power demand.