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Meralco rates will fall again in December
Ian Nicolas Cigaral (Philstar.com) – December 9, 2020 – 1:10 pm
MANILA, Philippines – Christmas would be a happy one for Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) customers as they will see another month of lower charges on their December bills due to falling energy demand that came with the onset of the weather cold.
For a typical home that consumes 200 kilowatt hours (kWh) each month, the adjustment equates to “a decrease of about P7” on its December bill, the nation’s largest power distributor said in a statement on Wednesday.
Electricity costs fell by a higher P8 in November for residential customers with an average monthly consumption of 200 kWh due to better supply after storms that knocked out power lines and sapped demand.
Supply remained sufficient, especially on the Luzon grid it continued this month, resulting in cheaper generation rates. Overall, Meralco’s rates for a typical household would decrease by P0.0352 to P8.4753 per kWh in December.
Broken down, the generation charge was reduced by P0.0502 per kWh to P4.1516 this month as Meralco pays less for its electricity from generators. Electricity prices on the wholesale electricity spot market (WESM), which serves as the venue for energy trading, fell P0.1881 per kWh.
Independent power producers, meanwhile, were also charging Meralco less, down P0.2577 per kWh due to “better average plant dispatch,” while a strong peso helped lower import prices. The recovery of the local currency also helped reduce the prices of the electricity supply agreements, which represent 52% of the electricity sold by Meralco to consumers, by P0.0214 per kWh.
Apart from the generation charges, the transmission charge was slightly reduced to 0.0044 p. Taxes and other charges, however, registered a net increase of P0.0194 per kWh. Regulators also suspended the collection of universal charges.
The cheaper electricity rates would be good news for Meralco customers whose revenues were affected by coronavirus lockdowns that put millions of Filipinos out of work and closed thousands of businesses. Since the beginning of the year, Meralco said electricity costs have been reduced by “more than P277 for a 200 kWh home.”
At 12:49 pm on Wednesday, Meralco shares were up 0.94% at P299.80 each.
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