Meralco to charge consumers P0.058 per kWh more

The Manila Electric Co. will charge consumers P0.058 per kilowatt-hour more starting this month, an official of the company said Tuesday. The power utility, also known as Meralco, said in a statement that the cost of electricity it buys from suppliers rose to P5.6546 per kWh this month from P5.5967 per kWh in June. This means that the rate of consumers with a monthly consumption of 200 kWh a month will go up by around P12 when they are billed next August. “Figures for the supply month of June 2010 which is the basis of the July generation charge show the cost of power sourced from the independent power producers as increasing by around P0.06, from an average of P4.54 per kWh in May to P4.60 per kWh in June," Meralco First Vice President and Utility Economics Head Ivanna dela Peña said in the statement. She traced the higher cost of power to the drop in dispatch of power plants to 87 percent in June from the record 92 percent in May. “Despite the lower dispatch, the independent power producers are Meralco’s cheapest sources of power. The effective cost of power sourced from National Power Corp. stood at P5.59 per kWh while that from the wholesale electricity spot market was at P7.90 per kWh last June," de la Peña said. Wet season rates Still, Meralco’s rates in August could be tempered by the National Power Corp.’s wet season rates this July, said Joe Zaldarriaga, head of Meralco’s external communications. "Hopefully, the incoming rainy season will bring rains sufficient to improve the capability of many of the hydro plants which in turn can potentially lead to the easing of prices in the WESM," Zaldarriaga said. Napocor's charges usually go down by around P0.30 per kWh during the wet season. WESM is the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market where electricity is traded between power generating companies and distributors like Meralco. “Meralco has always maintained in previous statements that it consistently looks for the supply mix that would yield the most reasonable rates to customers. The company does not earn from the generation charge since it is merely a pass through charge," Zaldarriaga said. Napocor has filed for another set of price increase with the Energy Regulatory Commission to recover its deferred foreign exchange and fuel cost, however, saying that it needs to increase its rates by P0.24 per kWh for Luzon, P0.41 for the Visayas, and P0.51 for Mindanao. Napocor and PSALM The state-owned Napocor said it needs to recover over P573.09 million in foreign exchange cost and P3.82 billion in fuel and independent power producer cost incurred from January to April. It wants the permission of ERC to recover its costs in a four-month period. This is the third petition that Napocor and the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. filed with the commission to increase its rates. PSALM, earlier asked the ERC for permission to recover from its clients P82 billion in stranded contract costs and debts. PSALM was created under the 2001 Electric Industry Reform Act to manage and supervise Napocor’s assets and liabilities. Napocor and PSALM also filed a separate petition to recover P8.8 billion of fuel cost and contracted independent power producer costs, as well as P8.5 billion in foreign exchange costs in a six-month period. —VS, GMANews.TV