By MANILA, Philippines — Customers of Manila Electric Co. can expect lower power bills in August after the company announced a downward adjustment to its electricity rates.
The overall rate in August went down to P0.2908 per kWh, translating to a P58 decrease in the total electricity bill of a typical household with monthly consumption of 200 kWh.
Explaining the adjustment, Meralco said generation costs went down for the third consecutive month to P6.3929 per kWh.
That’s because of cheaper electricity sourced from the spot market and pre-agreed supply deals, which have a combined share of 64% to Meralco’s total power requirement during the supply month.
Figures showed electricity that Meralco bought from the spot market dropped by P1.2873 per kWh as average demand in the Luzon grid fell by more than 200 MW due to the rainy season.
Meanwhile, energy prices from power supply agreements (PSA) went down by P0.1688 per kWh due to lower fuel prices and a strong peso, which affected around 26% of charges that are dollar denominated.
The cheaper power sourced from the spot market and PSAs was enough to offset a slight P0.0853 per kWh increase in charges from Independent Power Producers (IPPs), which supplied the remaining 36% of Meralco’s total energy needs.
Transmission and other charges, which include taxes and subsidies, also registered a net reduction of P0.0771.
Collection of the Feed-In Tariff Allowance (FIT-All), at the rate of P0.0364 per kWh, remains suspended until August as directed by the Energy Regulatory Commission.