Meralco: Nov. electricity bill to go up on higher generation charge

Electricity bills will go up by P0.44 per kilowatt hour (kWh) this month on higher generation charges, the Manila Electric Co. or Meralco said Wednesday. This November the generation charge is P5.79 per kWh from P5.34 in October and P5.20 in September, according to the power utility. The item is the single largest component among fees and charges in the average electricity bill and is equivalent to 60 percent of what consumers pay for in their monthly bills. The generation charge goes to Meralco suppliers like independent power producers (IPPs), which include First Gas Power Corp., Quezon Power Philippines Ltd., National Power Corp. (Napocor); and Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), Meralco noted. Only the distribution component of an electric bill goes to Meralco. Meralco gets about 47.9 percent of its electricity from the IPPs, 41.5 percent from Napocor, and 10.6 percent from the WESM. There was an increase in the generation charge due to WESM price surges in the in late October, Meralco said. Lower electricity bills in Dec. The spikes in WESM prices were caused by the maintenance shutdown of the Malampaya natural gas pipeline from Oct. 20 to 26, which “affected the operation of large power plants dependent on Malampaya for fuel," Meralco said. The reduced generation capacity increased the WESM prices for Meralco to P11.57 per kWh P8.19 per kWh, Meralco noted. With Malampaya back in business, First Gas will be able to operate on cheaper natural gas, Meralco noted, saying it is optimistic that generation charges for December should be lower. “Barring any unforeseen major generation or transmission outage, WESM prices should normalize and customers may expect the generation charge to fall in the following month," the company said. The generation charge varies monthly, depending on factors such as world oil prices, foreign exchange rate, and fuel supply constraints, according to Meralco. Meralco serves over four million customers in its Metro Manila, Laguna, Batangas and Bulacan franchise areas. — VS, GMA News