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Brix Lelis - The Philippine Star
July 12, 2025 | 12:00am
This photo shows a Meralco's electric meter.
STAR / File
MANILA, Philippines — Power utility Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) is hiking its electricity rate by P0.4883 per kilowatt-hour in July, bringing the overall rate to P12.6435 per kWh from June’s P12.1552 per kWh.
The adjustment, which ends two months of rate cuts, translates to an increase of around P98 in the power bills of residential customers with a 200-kWh consumption.
At a press conference yesterday, Meralco spokesman Joe Zaldarriaga said the higher generation charge triggered the overall increase this month.
Generation charges, or the cost of power procured from energy suppliers, climbed by P0.3407 per kWh.
Charges from power supply agreements (PSAs) and independent power producers (IPPs) went up due to higher fuel prices and the weakening of the peso against the dollar.
“The peso was at its weakest in three months, with a significant depreciation… There were two weeks of tension between Iran and Israel, affecting world fuel prices,” Meralco utility economics chief Larry Fernandez explained.
The reduction in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) prices, however, tempered the increase in PSA and IPP costs.
PSAs, IPPs and WESM accounted for 56 percent, 28 percent and 16 percent of Meralco’s energy requirements for the period, respectively.
Also contributing to the overall rate hike was the transmission charge, which inched up by P0.0734 per kWh due to increased reserve market costs.
Transmission charges are pass-through costs for transporting electricity from power plants to distribution systems.
Other charges, including taxes, had a net increase of P0.0742 per kWh.
Generation and transmission charges are paid by Meralco to power suppliers and the national grid operator, while other fees are all remitted to the government.
The distribution charge, the only portion of the bill that goes to Meralco, has not moved since the reduction of P0.036 per kWh in August 2022.
Residential customers of Meralco in Metro Manila and nearby provinces also continue to benefit from the ongoing implementation of a refund amounting to P0.20 per kWh.
