MERALCO HIKES ELECTRICITY PRICES AGAIN

THE Manila Electric Company (Meralco) has increased its electricity price again as the June rate went up by P0.6436 per kilowatt hour (kWh).

Meralco announced Thursday that the electricity rate in June stood at P12.0575 per kWh from P11.4139 per kWh in May.

According to Meralco, residential customers consuming 200 kWh may expect their bills to go higher by P129 this month.

The distribution utility firm attributed the higher power rate this month to the overall rate increase in the generation charges, which went up by P0.3466 per kWh, because of the higher costs from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM).

Meralco increased its sourcing from the WESM to 33 percent from the previous month’s 30 percent. This amid the red and yellow alerts in the Luzon grid in May.

WESM prices were higher in May by P1.5203 per kWh, Meralco said.

Higher charges from Independent Power Producers (IPPs) also went up by P0.0224 per kWh due to a lower average IPP dispatch and weaker peso, affecting 98 percent of the dollar-denominated IPP costs.

IPPs accounted for 29 percent of Meralco’s energy requirement for the period.

Meralco senior vice president and head of regulatory management office Jose Ronald Valles said they are waiting for the regulatory approval of the 400-MW interim power supply agreement with Limay Power Inc., which could significantly reduce the WESM exposure and generation costs.

He added that transmission and other charges also contributed to the increased power rate this month.