The Manila Electric Company (Meralco) announced that after a reduction last September, overall electricity rates went down to P9.9766 per kilowatthour (kWh) this month from last month's P10.0732 per kWh.

The decrease of P0.0966 per kWh will mean a downward adjustment of around P19 in the total bill of a typical household consuming 200kWh.

Since April this year, electricity rates registered a net decrease of 57 centavos per kWh.

"We are pleased to announce that despite prices of other basic goods and commodities generally going up, Meralco customers can find some relief in the decrease of power rates these past two months, as this goes against the current trend that we see with other products," said Meralco Spokesperson and Head of Public Information Office Joe Zaldarriaga.

LOWER PSA CHARGES

From PhP5.2719 per kWh last month, generation charge for October went down to PhP5.1908 per kWh, a decrease of PhP0.0811 per kWh.

The decrease in generation charge is mainly the result of PhP0.2790 per kWh reduction in charges of Power Supply Agreements (PSAs), Meralco said.

Despite the weakening of the peso against the US dollar and the scheduled maintenance outage of Sual Unit 1 that started on August 31, the cost of power from PSAs went down due to higher dispatch of Masinloc and Ilijan plants.

The share of PSA purchases to Meralco's total requirement this month was 36%.

The decrease in PSA charges offset the P0.0414 per kWh increase in cost of power from Independent Power Producers (IPPs) as a result of continued Peso depreciation. About 96% of IPP costs are denominated in US dollars. The share of IPP purchases to Meralco’s total requirement this month was at 41%.

Cost of power from Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) slightly increased by P0.2981 per kWh due to lower availability of power plants in the Luzon grid. The share of WESM purchases to Meralco’s total requirement this month was 23%.

OTHER CHARGES DECREASE

Transmission charge of residential customers increased by P0.0111 per kWh due to the increase in NGCP's ancillary service charges. Meanwhile, taxes and other charges went down by PhP0.0266 per kWh this month.

Meralco's distribution, supply, and metering charges have remained unchanged for 39 months, after these registered reductions in July 2015.

Meralco reiterated that it does not earn from the pass-through charges, such as the generation and transmission charges. Payment for the generation charge goes to the power suppliers, while payment for the transmission charge goes to the NGCP. Taxes and other public policy charges like the FIT-All rate are remitted to the government.

For helpful energy-saving tips, customers may visit Meralco's website or its social media accounts, Twitter and Facebook.​