The Manila Electric Company (Meralco) on Thursday announced that the February retail electricity bill will nudge upward by P0.75 per kilowatt-hour.
According to Larry Fernandez, Meralco Head of Utility Economics, the adjustment for a typical 200 kWh household customer of Meralco will correspond to a P150 increase in the bill.
“The adjustment is largely from a P0.58/kWh increase in the generation charge, mainly due to the normalization of capacity fees of PSAs, the depreciation of the peso, and higher fuel costs. This was offset by a P0.04/kWh reduction in the transmission charge. Taxes and other charges went up by P0.21/kWh.”
Meralco intends to stagger the rate hike in an effort to cushion customers against the substantial increase.
Joe Zaldarriaga, Meralco spokesman, said, “we recognized the fact that consumer prices have also gone up, along with upward adjustments in other basic products and services, we don’t reckon applying the adjustment in full.”
Meralco officials said they will inform the Energy Regulatory Commission of their intended staggered payment scheme, once finalized, within the week.
