Meralco lowers generation charge for March

Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) on Monday said its power generation charge for March dropped by P0.02 kilowatt hour (kWh) to P4.85 per kWh from P4.86 per kWh last month. Meralco, the country’s largest power distributor, said in a statement that the decline in generation charge was due to a P1.23-per-kWh cut from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) and a P0.17-per-kWh decrease from independent power producers or IPPs. The drop in WESM prices more than offset the P0.55-per-kWh increase in the cost of power purchased from the National Power Corp. (Napocor), according to Meralco. Also, transmission and system loss charges to residential customers also went down by P0.04 per kWh and P0.01 per kWh, respectively, the power distributor said. Generation charge is the biggest component of the electricity bill, comprising on the average about 60 percent of what consumers pay. Meralco pointed out that the generation charge does not go to the company, but to power generators. The power distributor advised its customers to prepare for the upcoming summer months where “consumption tends to shoot up." “Some appliances work doubly hard in warm weather conditions [and] more members of the household use electricity during the summer vacation break," Meralco explained. Meralco also advised its consumers to observe some energy efficiency tips during summertime. — JE, GMA News