Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) customers will see their electricity bills rise again this November, the second consecutive monthly rate hike.
At a media briefing on Monday, Meralco Vice President and Head of Corporate Communications Joe R. Zaldarriaga said the increase of P0.1520 per kilowatt-hour (kWH) pushes the overall rate for a typical household to P13.4702 per kWh from P13.3182 per kWh in October. He said the hike was mainly driven by higher transmission costs and the Feed-in Tariff Allowance (FIT-All).
For residential users consuming 200 kWh, this translates to roughly P30 more on their monthly bill.
Meralco’s transmission charge rose by P0.1468 per kWh this November due to higher ancillary service costs from the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines.
The FIT-All also increased by P0.0884 per kWh after the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) set a new rate of P0.2073 per kWh, up from P0.1189 per kWh.
However, the hike was partially offset by a drop in the generation charge, which fell by P0.1008 per kWh to P7.9000 from P8.0008 last month.
The Power Supply Agreement (PSA) rate dropped by P0.2985 due to lower fuel costs, which more than offset the peso’s depreciation against the US dollar. The Wholesale Electricity Spot Market rate also declined by P0.6273 per kWh after downward adjustments to the market bill, despite tighter supply in October.
Meanwhile, charges from independent power producers (IPPs) rose by P0.2481 per kWh because the peso’s depreciation affected nearly all their dollar-denominated costs. For this period, PSAs, IPPs, and WESM accounted for 77 percent, 20 percent, and 3 percent, respectively, of Meralco’s total energy supply.
Other charges—including system loss, subsidies, taxes, and universal charges—added P0.0176 per kWh. This includes a P0.0025 increase in the Universal Charge after the ERC lifted the suspension on the UC-Environmental Charge.
Pass-through costs for generation and transmission go to power suppliers and the grid operator, while taxes, universal charges, and FIT-All are remitted to the government.
Meralco’s distribution charge has remained unchanged since a P0.0360 per kWh reduction in August 2022.