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CONSUMERS may have to brace for having to pay for
expensive electricity as cost components of the bill of
Manila Electric Co. (Meralco)—the country’s largest
power distributor —particularly the generation,
transmission and system-loss charges, rose by an average
of P0.67 per kilowatt-hour (kWh).
Based on
actual billing to customers, Meralco’s generation charge
increased by P0.5188/kWh this month to P4.9073/kWh from
P4.3885/kWh last month.
Ivanna
G. de la Peña, Meralco vice president and utility
economics head, said the transmission charge in their
bills also rose by P0.0759/kWh to P0.9922/kWh from
P0.9163/kWh.
Meralco’s
generation charge increased by P0.5188/kWh this month to
P4.9073/kWh from P4.3885/kWh in March, and its
distribution charge also jumped by P0.3036/kWh to
P0.8765/kWh from last month’s P0.5729/kWh.
The
Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) earlier assured that
consumers will not be taxed with increasing distribution
charge of Meralco during the summer months.
The
source said Meralco’s generation charge increased owing
to high prices at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market
(WESM) and higher cost of procurement from its
contracted independent power producers, primarily the
Quezon Power Plant Ltd. (QPPL) that was scheduled for
maintenance shutdown toward end-March.
According to the Philippine Electricity Market Corp. (PEMC),
WESM prices went up to P8.936/kWh in the February
26-to-March 25 billing to Meralco, which was higher by
P3.304/kWh from the P5.632/kWh as PEMC’s final billing
for the period from January 26 to February 25.
The PEMC
noted that the high rates at the spot market were due to
the higher utilization of oil-based plants.
The
metering system and supply charges of the distribution
company remained at P0.2435/kWh and P0.527/kWh,
respectively. The system loss component in the billing
was up by P0.0770/kWh this month to P0.8075/kWh from
P0.7305/kWh in March.
The
other rate component that went up was the transmission
charge—by P0.0759/kWh to P0.9922/kWh from last month’s
P0.9163/kWh.
For the
distribution component, de la Peña explained that the
higher distribution rates are only billed to consumers
with higher consumption owing to the intraclass subsidy.
For
those consuming below 200 kWh, the distribution charge
is P0.5729/kWh and those consuming up to 400-kWh are
taxed a distribution charge of P0.8765/kWh.
De la
Peña said this has been based on the rate structures of
the utility firm set for various customer-brackets.
The
average distribution charge has not changed and is
pending ERC approval under its performance-based rate
application, said de la Peña.
Meralco
also has a pending application at the ERC for its
distribution tariff adjustment, anchored on its entry
into the performance-based regulation (PBR) scheme.
The PBR
is an internationally-accepted rate-making methodology
allowed by Section 43(f) of the Electric Power Industry
Reform Act (Epira), which entails the use of incentives
and penalties as determined by the performance of the
public utility. |
