Meralco rates down for fourth straight month in August

The Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) on Monday announced a reduction in power rates for August, marking the fourth straight month of downward adjustments to bring rates to the lowest in nearly three years.

In an emailed statement, Meralco said rates will be decreased by 20.55 centavos per kilowatt-hour to P8.4911/kWh this month, which the company said is the lowest since September 2017.

This is equivalent to a reduction of around P41 in the total bill of residential customers consuming 200 kWh.

The latest rate compares with the P8.966/kWh in July and P9.5674/kWh in August 2019.

According to the company, the lower rates came as the generation charges fell by 21.03 centavos/kWh to P4.1241/kWh in August.

"The main drivers for lower generation charge this August were the reduction in charges from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) and the Independent Power Producers (IPPs)," it said.

In the same advisory, the company said its business centers will continue to be open amid the ongoing modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ).

Metro Manila, Bulacan, and the Calabarzon areas were again placed under the MECQ from August 3 to 15, following pleas of the healthcare sector.

Frontliners earlier called on the government to consider reimposing stricter quarantine measures to give health workers a time to recuperate from exhaustion due to the non-stop admission of COVID-19 patients.

Meralco earlier said it will suspend disconnection activities until the end of September, to ensure stable power supply for customers.

Its spokesperson, Joe Zaldarriaga, said the company has been facing a number of complaints given the increase registered in the June bills, following the "bill shock" experienced in May. —KBK, GMA News