MANILA -- Meralco said its electricity rates are dipping by P0.0409/kWh in September.
Meralco power rates dip by P0.04/kWh in August
The power distributor said this brings down the overall rate for a typical household to P14.7424 this month from P14.7833 per kWh in August.
“For residential customers of Meralco who are consuming 200 kWh, this adjustment translates to a reduction of around P8 in the total electricity bill,” said Meralco Head of Corporate Communications Joe Zaldarriaga.
Meralco said power rates dropped because of lower ancillary service charges and taxes.
Ancillary service charges fell by P0.3344/kWh because of lower charges from the reserve market. Taxes and other charges, meanwhile, went down by P0.1657/kWh.
"This was largely driven by the completion of Malampaya gas facility’s maintenance shutdown that enabled the First Gas/Prime CoreGen plants to fully utilize indigenous natural gas, which is exempt from value-added tax (VAT)," Meralco said.
The power distributor said these offset higher generation charges. Generation charges climbed because of the depreciation of the peso and higher fuel costs amid the Middle East tensions.
Meralco also noted that it continues to refund customers a total of P1.0139 per kWh.