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By Angelica Y. Yang
TYPICAL HOUSEHOLDS in Metro Manila can expect its monthly electricity bills to drop by P14 in February, after Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) announced on Monday a cut in general energy rates due to lower generation charges.
In a statement, Meralco said the total energy rate is P8.6793 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in February, P0.0704 per kWh below its January level. This is also P0.1830 per kWh less than the rate of P8.8623 per kWh in February 2020.
Typical homes are those that consume less than 200 kWh, according to the distribution company.
This month, customers consuming 300 kWh, 400 kWh and 500 kWh would see a decrease of P21, P28 and P35 in their monthly bills, respectively.
The generation charge was reduced by P0.0422 to P4.4152 per kWh in February, due to lower fixed charges from the power supply contracts (PSA), which represent 53.4% of Meralco’s energy requirements.
Meanwhile, independent power producers’ rates increased by P0.2013 per kWh due to lower average plant dispatch, higher prices from the Malampaya Deepwater Gas-to-Power project, and the depreciation of the peso against the dollar.
“The wholesale spot electricity market (WESM) rates also increased by P0.9577 per kWh due to the higher average capacity of the plant in the event of outages in the Luzon grid,” Meralco said in the statement.
Meralco’s vice president and chief of utility economics, Lawrence S. Fernández, told reporters at a brieto beng on Monday WESM charges increased due to more plant outages in January compared to December.
He added that the cost of natural gas from the Malampaya plant had risen as prices were revised to reFloridaect higher world oil prices.
IPPs and WESMs represent 39.5% and 7.1% of Meralco’s energy requirements, respectively.
Transmission charges were reduced by P0.0128 per kWh due to lower charges for ancillary services. Taxes and other charges were reduced by P0.0154 per kWh.
Meralco said that the collection of the universal charge-environmental charge of P0.0025 per kWh is still suspended, as ordered by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).
The utility giant’s distribution, supply and metering charges have been unchanged for 67 months since July 2015. It said it does not win on transfer charges, including generation and transmission charges.
“The payment of the generation charge goes to the energy providers, while the payment of the transmission charge goes to the NGCP. Taxes and other public policy charges such as universal charges and FIT-All (feeding fee allocation) are remitted to the government, ”Meralco said.
He said that the February rate included adjustments on excessive and insufficient recoveries for the period from January 2017 to December 2019, as indicated by the ERC. Residential customers can expect a net refund of around P0.1150 per kWh on their bills due to adjustments, he said.
On December 29, ERC ordered Meralco to return P1.4 billion to its customers for overcharging some charges during the billing periods covering January 2017 through December 2019. The ERC told Meralco to reimburse the recoveries in excess for three months or the amount recovered completely.
In its order, ERC also told the utility giant to recoup its P2.38 billion subcollections in its power generation charge during the same billing periods. The amortization period would last for 24 months or until fully collected.
Meralco’s majority shareholder, Beacon Electric Asset Holdings, Inc., is partly owned by PLDT, Inc.
Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., a subsidiary of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund, has an interest in Business world through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls.
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