Meralco power rates up this month

Customers of Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) will have to pay more for power this month following a P1 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) rise in the utility’s generation charge. Meralco, the country’s largest electric utility, said in a statement that the generation charge for February was increased to P4.903 per kWh from P3.9175 the previous month. "Cost of power supplied by the generator, Napocor, and the IPPs (independent power producers) and that sourced from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), all registered significant increases this January," Meralco said. The increase will, however, be somewhat tempered following Meralco’s voluntary suspension of a P0.2960 per kWh rate increase for the year, which was approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) last Friday. Meralco’s deferment of the rate increase was made in response to a motion for reconsideration filed by intervenor Robert Mallillin on behalf of industrial customers. Mallillin alleged that industrial customers were being prejudiced in favor of residential customers. This deferment means the net impact of the generation charge increase for customers consuming 100 kWh a month will be an increase of P57.35. For those using an average of 200 kWhs the increase will be P159.40, while for 300 kWhs it will be P241.92. Customers consuming 200 kWh account for almost a third of Meralco’s residential base. Ivanna G. dela Peña, Meralco vice-president and utility economics head, said consumers should prepare for higher power rates this year. "Consumers have to brace for higher power rates this year as we do not see a repeat of the conditions that brought about the low power rates last year. In fact, all signals point to the opposite direction," dela Pena said. "Rains were abundant last year, resulting in sufficient levels of hydro generation. El Niño is expected to bring the dams to critical levels and would cause temperatures to rise, fuelling higher demand. "For most part of last year, demand was down because of the global economic slowdown. This year, the economy is expected to rebound, putting upward pressure on electricity use." — BusinessWorld