MANILA, July 10 (PNA) — The Manila Electric Company’s (Meralco’s) generation and transmission charges will increase the July 2014 bills of 200-kilowatt hour (kWh) households by about Php6.
In a statement Thursday, Meralco said the increase will come after two consecutive months of price cuts totalling Php0.85/kWh.
The country’s largest distribution utility (DU) attributed the increase in generation charge to higher rates set by suppliers, which Meralco have Power Supply Agreements (PSAs), and the Independent Power Producers (IPPs), which in turn was partly because of scheduled and unscheduled shutdown of 11 power plants last June.
It cited that power sourced from PSAs increased by Php0.26 while the IPPs billed them an additional Php0.10 per kWh.
These increased the generation charge for July by Php0.10 from 5.31 to 5.41.
Moreover, the transmission charge contributed to the hike in bills by Php0.08 per kWh.
Citing the statement of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), Meralco said higher ancillary charges, which accounts for 40 percent of the total transmission cost, contributed to the higher transmission charges.
On the other hand, while taxes decreased by Php.003 per kWh for the July 2014 bill, the increase of Php0.002/kWh in subsidies and system loss charges led to the hike.
Meralco said increases in the generation and transmission charges were countered by the Php0.15/kWh cut in the distribution, supply and metering charges, which is in effect from July 2014 to June 2015. (PNA)