Meralco sees September electricity rates going down

Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), the country's largest power distributor, said Thursday its generation charge this month will likely drop on lower generation costs of independent power producers (IPPs). IPP rates dropped P0.1820 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) on the average, with Quezon Power Philippines Ltd. registering the biggest reduction of almost P1 per kWh, according to Meralco. Both the Sta. Rita and San Lorenzo natural gas power plants — operated by First Gas Power Corp. — also lowered by P0.0323 per kWh and P0.0472 per kWh their respective generation charges. The higher utilization level for all three IPPs resulted in lower fixed cost per kWh, said Meralco. "[We have] always emphasized that if the IPP plants reach higher dispatch levels, this will result in lower power rates charged by these plants," Meralco said, adding that IPPs have been the firm's cheapest source of electricity in the past four months. In August, Meralco sourced 18 percent of its power requirements from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), 44 percent from IPPs, and 38 percent from the National Power Corp. WESM rates in July went as high as P11 per kWh. However, Meralco said it expects WESM to register lower rates in August, as the rainy season has tempered demand. This will reflect in the September bills of customers. Meanwhile, Meralco's generation charge was pegged at P6.0962 per kWh in August, up P0.44 per kWh from P5.6546 in July. The August generation charge was the second highest for the year. The highest generation charge recorded so far this year was P6.77 in April. Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras asked the Philippine Electricity Market Corp., the operator of WESM, to explain why prices went up in July. "They shouldn't just explain. They have to show me the numbers," Almendras said. —JE/LRS/VS, GMANews.TV