Meralco lowers rates in January after nine straight months of increases

Customers of the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) can expect lower bills for the month of January, as the service provider announced a reduction in household power rates following nine straight months of increases.

On Monday, Meralco announced the downward adjustment of rates by 7.46 centavos per kilowatt-hour to P9.7027/kWh from December’s P9.7773/kWh. This translates to a P15 reduction in the monthly bill of residential customers consuming 200 kWh.

The reduction comes as generation charges for the month fell by 10.81 centavos/kWh to P5.4262/kWh due to lower costs from power supply agreements (PSAs) and independent power producers (IPPs).

PSA rates fell by 43.75 centavos/kWh while IPP rates slipped by 5.43 centavos/kWh, offsetting the higher charges from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) which increased by 85.11 centavos/kWh.

In the same advisory, Meralco said the overall movement of rates was tempered by the continued implementation of the distribution rate true-up refund which started in March last year.

The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) earlier ordered Meralco to refund over P13.88 billion to its customers in 24 months, until the total amount is fully refunded. This is equivalent to an average refund of 15.28 centavos/kWh.

Meralco constructs, operates, and maintains electric distribution systems in the cities and municipalities of Bulacan, Cavite, Metro Manila, and Rizal, as well as certain areas in the provinces of Batangas, Laguna, Pampanga, and Quezon.

Shares in the company were up 40 centavos or 0.13% to P306.40 as of 11:45 a.m. on Monday, January 10. — RSJ, GMA News