Pump prices down; Meralco rates lower
MANILA, Philippines — Motorists can expect fuel prices to drop today by over P4 per liter across the board, while Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) customers will see power rates ease in August after two consecutive months of hikes.
Minimum price cuts this week of P4.70 per liter for gasoline, P4.30 for diesel and P4.88 for kerosene have been announced by the Department of Energy.
“These changes are based on movements in the global oil market amid ongoing developments in the Middle East that are affecting global supply and prices,” the DOE said.
The rollback followed a sharp decline in crude oil prices last week as expectations grew that shipping conditions in the Middle East could gradually improve.
Meanwhile, households and businesses in Metro Manila and nearby provinces will get a reduction of P0.0428 per kilowatt-hour in their Meralco power bills this month.
The adjustment brought the overall rate for a typical household down to P14.7833 per kWh in August from the previous month’s P14.8261 per kWh.
This translates to a cut of about P9 in the total electricity bill of residential customers consuming 200 kWh.
Meralco head of utility economics Larry Fernandez said the P9.5-billion refund ordered by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) was the main reason for this month’s lower rates.
The refund, equivalent to P0.5861 per kWh for residential customers, offset other increases in power costs.
“Customers would have seen a bigger reduction if not for the increase in the ancillary service charge billed by NGCP (National Grid Corp. of the Philippines),” Fernandez said yesterday.
The transmission charge, which covers the cost of transporting electricity from power plants to distribution networks, went up by P0.3024 per kWh due to higher ancillary service costs from the reserve market.
Also known as power reserves, ancillary service helps keep the grid stable and reliable.
NGCP pays these charges to generation companies that provide backup power to the grid.
The generation charge, which reflects the cost of electricity procured by Meralco from suppliers, inched up by P0.0296 per kWh, driven by increased costs from major gas contracts.
Also exerting upward pressure on power bills were taxes and other charges, which registered a net increase of P0.2113 per kWh.
This included the ERC-approved increase of P0.1348-per-kWh in the feed-in tariff allowance, which supports eligible renewable energy projects across the country.
Collection of the green energy auction allowance – another renewable power charge – remained suspended this month, as ordered by the ERC.
Meralco pays pass-through charges for generation and transmission to power producers and NGCP, respectively, while taxes and other charges are remitted to the government.
The distribution charge, the only portion that goes to Meralco, has not changed since the P0.036 per kWh reduction in August 2022.
As monsoon rains continue to affect parts of Meralco’s franchise area, the company said its crews are working around the clock to safely restore power to affected customers.
As of 8 a.m. yesterday, service interruptions affected more than 38,000 Meralco customers, 1,200 of whom were in flooded areas.
Most of the affected connections were in Cavite, while the rest were in parts of Metro Manila, Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna and Batangas.
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