Meralco customers face higher rates in February 2026

Customers of power distributor Manila Electric Company (Meralco) will have to pay more for electricity this month, as the Pangilinan-led utilities provider announced a rate hike following two straight months of downward adjustments.

In an advisory, Meralco said it would increase its rates by 22.26 centavos per kilowatt-hour (kWh) to bring the overall rate for a typical household to P13.1734 per kWh from P12.9508 per kWh in January. This translates to an increase of around P45 in the total bill of customers with a 200 kWh consumption.

"The main driver of this month's rate increase was the higher transmission charge as it went up by P0.1975 per kWh for residential customers," Meralco said, citing the higher ancillary service charges from the reserve market incurred by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).

The higher charges also reflect the P0.770 per kWh upward adjustment in the universal charge for missionary electrification (UCME), after the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) approved an increase to P0.2763 per kWh from P0.1993 per kWh previously.

This was partly offset by the lower generation charge which went down by P0.1073 per kWh to P7.6398 per kWh, due to lower costs from independent power producers (IPPS).

Charges from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), meanwhile, increased by P1.5682 per kWh due to tighter supply conditions in the Luzon grid, while charges from power supply agreements (PSAs) grew by P0.0483 per kWh.

In the same advisory, Meralco welcomed the ERC mandate of a new uniform national lifeline consumption threshold for marginalized and low-income households, giving customers with consumption of 50 kWh or less a 100% discount on their electricity rates.

Meralco said it would also continue to implement a 35% discount for qualified customers consuming 51 to 70 kWh, and a 20% discount for those consuming 71 to 100 kWh.

"We welcome this directive from the ERC which we hope will provide additional relief to our qualified customers," Meralco vice president and head of corporate communications Joe Zaldarriaga said.

"We reiterate our call for customers to practice energy efficiency as we approach the dry season," he added.

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. — VDV, GMA Integrated News