Meralco announces increase in electric rates for March

MANILA, Philippines - Lopez-led Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) on Wednesday disclosed that for the March billing, its customers will see a 19.39-centavo per kilowatthour (kWh) increase in its generation charge. In a statement to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Meralco said the generation charge for March 2008 will be at P4.3998 per kWh - an increase from its February rate of P4.1946 per kWh - to reflect increases in the firm's generation costs last month. "I would like to assure the public that this merely is a cost-recovery mechanism and revenue-neutral in so far as Meralco is concerned. We never gain a single centavo from changes in the cost of power supply that is passed on to our customers," said Elpi Cuna, Meralco vice-president for corporate communications. Meralco also said that the increase in the March billing for its "lifeline" consumers - or the marginal electricity users - will be minimal. For customers consuming 50 kWh a month, the increase will be P10; P17 for a 70 kWh customer, and P28 for those consuming 100 kWh. Cuna said that the increase was primarily because of the upsurge in power rates at the WESM (Wholesale Electricity Spot Market), where Meralco sourced 10 percent of its power requirements from the WESM in February. From a level of P3.3832/kWh in January - an all-time low since the WESM's commercial operation - the average WESM price in February jumped by P2.5524/kWh to P5.9356 per kWh. Also in February, there was an adjustment to the WESM bill, bringing the net WESM rate to P1.9421/kWh. Ecozone locators Meralco also said that starting the March 2008 billing month, ecozone locators will be billed with separate system loss rates that are lower than other comparable Industrial Service and Non-Industrial Service customers. For ecozone locators taking power at 34.5 kV, the system loss charge will be P0.1912/kWh which is 9 centavos lower than the P0.2817/kWh rate for other IS/NIS customers at the same service voltage. For ecozone locators served at secondary voltages, the system loss charge will be P0.5246/kwh, which is 20 centavos lower than for other secondary IS/NIS customers, Meralco said. - GMANews.TV