Meralco rates down in June

Households serviced by the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) may expect a P1.9623 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) decrease in their electricity bills this month.

In an advisory on Sunday, Meralco said the cut in power rates was due to the implementation of staggered collection of generation costs from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM).

“In its order promulgated on June 13, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) ordered all distribution utilities and electric cooperatives in the country, including Meralco, to stagger the collection of charges covering WESM purchases in the May supply month in four (4) equal monthly installments starting this billing month until September 2024,” Meralco said.

Meralco customers can expect a downward power adjustment in their power rates, instead of a P0.6436 per kWh increase that was announced earlier this week.

The adjusted rate reflects a decrease of P9.4516 per kWh from the previous month’s P11.4139 per kWh for a typical household.

“For residential customers consuming 200 kWh, the adjustment is equivalent to a decrease of around P392 in their total electricity bill,” Meralco said.

Meralco also said the adjusted rate for this month reflects a P1.8308 per kWh decrease in generation charge.

Amid the downward adjustment in June, Meralco said customers may expect higher generation charges in the next three months.

"We would like to advise this early that our customers can expect generation charge to increase in succeeding months as we collect the deferred amounts on staggered basis as result of the recent developments," said Joe Zaldarriaga, Meralco vice president and head of corporate communications.

"With these already deferred costs, and the recent order of the ERC to also stagger the collection of WESM charges, around P0.77 per kWh will be added every month to the generation charge in the July to September bills," he added. —Mariel Celine Serquiña/KG, GMA Integrated News