Meralco rates slightly down in June

The Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) on Monday announced a slight downward adjustment of power rates for June, following the "bill shock" customers experienced last month.

In an advisory, Meralco said it will reduce rates by 2.16 centavos per kilowatt-hour (/kWh) this month to bring rates to P8.7252/kWh from P8.746/kWh in May.

"This month’s total rate is also the lowest since February 2018," the advisory read.

This is equivalent to a reduction of P4 in the total bill of residential customers consuming 200kWh per month, P6 for every 300kWh, P8 for every 400kWh, and P12 for every 500kWh.

"Because of the very significant reduction in power demand in its service area during the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) and Modified ECQ period, MERALCO invoked the Force Majeure provision in its Power Supply Agreements (PSAs) for the duration of the lockdown, reducing fixed charges for generation capacity that would have been charged by suppliers," the company said.

The Pangilinan-led company earlier said customers will receive the complete meter-read billing statement for the duration of the ECQ in June.

To recall, customers in May experienced a "bill shock" after the full impact of the ECQ was reflected in their bills last month. --KBK, GMA News