Meralco Customers to Face Higher Electricity Bills in February

MANILA, Philippines — Meralco customers can expect higher electricity bills this month following a P0.2226 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) increase in the overall power rate.

The adjustment ends two straight months of rate cuts, pushing the overall rate to P13.1734 per kWh in February from P12.9508 per kWh in January.

For a typical household in Metro Manila and nearby provinces consuming 200 kWh, the rate hike translates to an additional P45 in the total monthly electricity bill.

At a press conference, Meralco spokesperson Joe Zaldarriaga said the increase was mainly due to higher transmission charges, which went up by P0.1975 per kWh. This was driven by increased fees for ancillary services, or backup power sourced from the reserve market, along with higher power delivery service charges.

Transmission charges, which account for about 10 percent of consumers’ bills, cover the cost of transporting electricity from power plants to Meralco’s distribution network.

Contributing to the overall increase was the P0.077 per kWh hike in the Universal Charge for Missionary Electrification (UCME), a non-bypassable fee imposed on all on-grid consumers to subsidize electricity costs in off-grid and remote areas.

This follows the approval of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) of a new UCME rate, raising it from P0.1993 to P0.2763 per kWh, effective this month.

Other charges, including taxes, also recorded a net increase of P0.0554 per kWh.

Partially offsetting these hikes was a P0.1073 per kWh decrease in generation charges, or the cost of power purchased by Meralco from its suppliers.

Although charges from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) and power supply agreements (PSAs) increased, a significant drop in fees from independent power producers (IPPs) helped temper the overall impact.

For the period, IPPs, WESM, and PSAs accounted for 24 percent, 10 percent, and 66 percent, respectively, of Meralco’s total energy requirements.

Meralco clarified that taxes and other charges are remitted to the government, while pass-through generation and transmission charges are paid to power producers and the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).

The distribution charge, which is the only portion that goes to Meralco, has remained unchanged since the P0.036 per kWh reduction in August 2022.

As the dry season approaches, Meralco assured its more than eight million customers that it is prepared to meet the expected surge in electricity demand.

“Our responsibility is to ensure that all customers have reliable electricity, especially during the crucial summer months, so we make sure our power supply is adequately covered,” Zaldarriaga said. END