Meralco: Electric bills will go up by P0.89 per kWh in April

Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) customers will see their April bills go up by P0.89 per kilowatt hour (kWh) due to higher generation charge and other components, according to a report on GMA News' "24 Oras" Tuesday.

A household consuming 200 kWh a month will see a P178.91 spike in its electric bill this month, while a family consuming 300 kWh will have to pay P268.36 more.

Those consuming 400 kWh will see a P357.82 increase while those using 500 kWh will pay P447.28 more.

Meralco said it was forced to source expensive electricity from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) after a number of power plants went on maintenance shutdown amid higher power demand.

Meralco also warned that brownouts may take place as the Luzon grid is currently on yellow alert – with just a 217-megawatt power reserve, according to the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines – after two power plants went on emergency shutdown.

To mitigate higher power rates in May, Meralco contracted power from three power plants, which is expected to reduce the estimated P1.71 per kWh gen charge to just P0.44 per kWh. — Danessa O. Rivera/BM, GMA News