Meralco Announces Significant Rate Reduction for June

Households served by the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) will see a significant reduction in their electricity bills this month, with a decrease of P1.9623 per kilowatt-hour (kWh).

In an advisory released on Sunday, Meralco attributed the rate cut to the implementation of staggered collection of generation costs from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM). The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) issued an order on June 13 mandating all distribution utilities and electric cooperatives, including Meralco, to spread out the collection of WESM charges from the May supply month over four equal monthly installments, starting this billing month until September 2024.

This adjustment reverses an earlier announced increase of P0.6436 per kWh, resulting in a new rate of P9.4516 per kWh for a typical household, down from the previous month’s P11.4139 per kWh.

“For residential customers consuming 200 kWh, the adjustment translates to a decrease of around P392 in their total electricity bill,” Meralco stated.

The adjusted rate includes a P1.8308 per kWh reduction in the generation charge. Despite this decrease, Meralco warned customers of anticipated higher generation charges in the next three months due to the deferred costs.

Joe Zaldarriaga, Meralco vice president and head of corporate communications, explained, “We would like to advise this early that our customers can expect generation charge to increase in the succeeding months as we collect the deferred amounts on a staggered basis as a result of the recent developments.”

He added, “With these already deferred costs, and the recent order of the ERC to also stagger the collection of WESM charges, around P0.77 per kWh will be added every month to the generation charge in the July to September bills.”