The Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) announced on Monday that there will be a decrease in Meralco rates in July after a series of increases in the last few months.
Meralco said that generation and transmission charges declined during the period.
Meralco said it will lower rates by P0.7213 per kilowatt-hour (/kWh), bringing the overall rate for a typical household to P11.1899/kWh from the former P11.9112/kWh.
This means that a P144 decrease can be expected for consumers who are using 200 kWh.
“Charges from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) went down by P2.6597 per kWh as demand decreased amid the onset of the rainy season. Lower spot market prices reduced the imposition of the secondary price cap to only 9.21% of the time from 28.28%. WESM share was higher this June supply month, accounting for around 15% of Meralco’s total energy requirement,” Meralco said in a statement.
“Charges from Power Supply Agreements (PSAs) and Independent Power Producers also went down by P0.3915 and P0.4658 per kWh, respectively, mainly due to lower coal prices. Also contributing to the reduction was Peso appreciation, which affected 20% of PSA and 97% of IPP costs. PSAs share for this period was 48%, while IPPs share was 37%,” it added.
Meralco also urged customers who are qualified to apply for a lifeline discount.
“Those who are beneficiaries of the Pantawid ng Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) or members of the marginalized sector who have obtained certification from their local social welfare and development office are qualified to apply. Customers living in condominiums, subdivisions, those with net-metering services, and those with violations of the Anti-Pilferage Act however are no longer qualified for the Lifeline Rate,” it added.
