Meralco expects power rate hike in April

After two straight months of rate reduction, the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) is projecting an increase in power rates in April, due to increased power consumption amid the warmer summer weather.

“Based on early, initial projections, there may be higher generation charge for the month of April 2021 due to observed increase in WESM (Wholesale Electricity Spot Market) prices,” Meralco spokesperson and vice president for Corporate Communications Joe Zaldarriaga said.

“Luzon peak demand increased by more than 900 MW (megawatts) in March due to warmer temperature and large capacities on outage persisted, remaining in excess of 3,400 MW on the average,” Zaldarriga said.

With this, power spot prices in Luzon or the daily Luzon Load-Weighted Average Price (LWAP) reached P8 per kilowatt-hour (kWH) during the week of March 1 and P9/kWh during the week of March 15.

In comparison, the daily LWAP was below P3/kWh for most of February, according to Zaldarriaga.

Meralco usually announces power rates adjustments every second week of a month.

In March, the power distributor slashed power rates by P0.3598 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), bringing the overall rate to P8.3195/kWh from P8.6793 in February. 

“This is equivalent to a decrease of around P72 in the total bill of residential customers consuming 200 kWh,” Zaldarriga said.

He said March’s rate is the lowest since August 2017.

“Nevertheless, Meralco continues to encourage our customers to continue practicing energy efficiency initiatives at home to be ready in managing their consumption, as the summer season may bring an increase in residential electricity consumption by 10% to 40% versus average consumption during the cool months of January and February,” he added. --NB, GMA News