PNA FILE

If you’re wondering why your electricity bill might be higher this April, you’re not alone. The Manila Electric Company (Meralco) just announced a price hike of PHP0.7226 per kilowatt hour (kWh)—pushing the overall rate from PHP12.2901 in March to PHP13.0127 per kWh this month.

So, what’s behind the bump?

According to Meralco, the main culprit is a surge in generation charges, especially from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM). This happened after the Luzon grid faced tighter supply conditions and was even placed under yellow alert on March 5—a signal that reserves were running low. As a result, WESM prices shot up, and that directly impacted your bill.

Here’s a quick breakdown:
• Overall generation charge jumped by PHP0.7278 per kWh
• Charges from Power Supply Agreements (PSAs) increased by PHP0.2811 per kWh, largely due to the expiration of a 400 MW PSA with Limay Power Inc. back in February
• Independent Power Producers (IPPs) actually helped soften the blow a bit, as their rates went down by PHP0.4738 per kWh

In terms of how Meralco sourced power during the period:
• PSAs covered 44%
• IPPs handled 33%
• WESM took care of the remaining 23%

But that’s not all—transmission and other charges also increased:
• Transmission fee went up by PHP0.0809 per kWh
• Other charges, including taxes, rose by PHP0.1163 per kWh

Now, before pointing fingers at Meralco, it’s worth noting that these “pass-through” charges—like generation and transmission—are just collected by Meralco and then paid to power suppliers and the government. The distribution charge (Meralco’s actual cut) hasn’t changed since it was reduced by PHP0.0360 per kWh back in August 2022.

In short, while Meralco’s fee hasn’t gone up, the cost of generating and delivering power has—and that’s what’s hitting consumers the hardest this month.