Meralco rates up by P0.27 per kWh in April

Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) raised power rates by P0.27 per kilowatt-hour this month due to an increase in demand and the cost of power from suppliers, the power company said in a statement Wednesday.

The generation charge went up by P0.20 per kWh, while the transmission charge increased by P0.01 per kWh. Other charges added P0.06 per kWh to the rates as well.

A P0.27 increase per kWh means that customers with a monthly consumption of 200 kWh will pay about P54 more this month.

Meralco noted that the summer heat brought with it a 5-percent rise in daily electricity usage in March, and the shutdown of some power plants that month also meant the company had to increase the power it bought from the country's electricity trading floor, the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), from 1.3 percent to 2.9 percent of total requirements.

In March, Meralco sourced 51 percent of its power requirements from its power supply agreements (PSAs), 39 percent from the independent power producers (IPPs) and 10 percent from the National Power Corporation (Napocor) and the WESM.

IPP rates went up P0.08 per kWh, and PSA rates by P0.02 per kWh, largely owing to a small increase in coal prices and a slightly weaker peso. — BM, GMA News