Filtered By: Money
Money

Meralco: November electricity rates up by P1.24 per kWh


Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) customers will have to pay higher for electricity in November due to tight power supply as several power plants were shut down in the past few months.
 
In a statement Friday, Meralco said there will be a P1.24 per kilowatt hour (kWh) increase in electricity rates this month.
 
A household consuming 200 kWh a month will see a P247 spike in its electric bill this month.
 
In a text message to GMA News Online, Meralco spokesperson Joe Zaldarriaga said generation charge is the main driver for the increase at 98 centavos per kWh.
 
Four large power plants went on maintenance shutdown, which include Unit 2 of Malaya power plant in Rizal from Dec. 2012 to Oct. 30; Unit 2 of Pagbilao plant in Quezon province from Aug. to Nov.; Unit 1 Sual power plant in Pangasinan from Sept. to Oct.; and Sta. Rita Module 20 from Oct. 23 to 28.
 
In addition, five plants were on forced outage which include San Lorenzo Module 60  from May 28 to March 16, 2014; Unit 1 of Masinloc plant in Zambales from Sept. 25 to 28; Unit 2 of Calaca plant in Batangas from Sept. 29 to Oct. 1; Quezon Power Philippines Ltd. plant from Oct. 5 to 6; and Unit 1 of Sual plant in Pangasinan from Oct. 22 to 26.
 
"Tight supply conditions due to these plant outages ecessitated Meralco to source more electricity from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM)," Meralco said. Power purchases from WESM increased by P8.10 per kWh.
 
Also, the rate from the Power Supply Agreements increased by P0.27 per kWh, which was partly offset by mitigated by a 10-centavo per kWh reduction in the average cost of the Independent Power Producers (IPPs) due to an improvement in the IPPs’ plant dispatch.
 
Transmission charge increased by P0.07 per kWh due to the increase in the Ancillary Service Charge of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines.
 
With the upward adjustment in generation and transmission charges, taxes went up by P0.08 per kWh while other bill components went up by P0.11 per kWh. — RSJ, GMA News
LOADING CONTENT