Meralco rates go down in January

OVER EIGHT MILLION customers of Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) will see lower electricity bills this month as the power distributor announced a rate cut on Monday.

The overall electricity rate declined by P0.1637 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) to P12.9508 per kWh in January from P13.1145 per kWh in December, the company said in a statement.

Residential households consuming 200 kWh will see their monthly electricity bills go down by P33. Customers using 300 kWh, 400 kWh, and 500 kWh will see reductions of P49, P65, and P82, respectively.

Meralco Vice-President and Head of Corporate Communications Joe R. Zaldarriaga said the decline in power rates was driven by the lower transmission charge.

“While there were upward pressures on certain cost components this January, the overall electricity bill still went down for the second consecutive month. We hope this will help our customers, especially at the start of the new year,” Mr. Zaldarriaga said in Filipino during a briefing.

The residential transmission rate dropped by P0.10 per kWh to P1.0368 per kWh mainly due to lower ancillary service charges incurred by the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines from its bilateral contracts and the reserve market.

Contributing to the downward adjustment was the lower generation charge, which declined by P0.0171 per kWh to P7.7471 per kWh due to lower costs from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) and power supply agreements (PSAs).

Charges from WESM fell by P1.1898 per kWh as the supply situation in the Luzon grid improved. PSA charges likewise declined by P0.0516 per kWh as a coal plant in Quezon province returned to operations.

Meanwhile, the cost of electricity charged by independent power producers (IPPs) increased due to higher fixed fees from a major gas plant, as well as the peso depreciation, affecting their costs that are mostly dollar denominated.

The peso closed at P58.79 per dollar on Dec. 29, weakening by P0.145 from its P58.645 finish on Nov. 28.

WESM, PSAs, and IPPs accounted for 7%, 71%, and 22%, respectively, of Meralco’s total energy requirement for the period.

Taxes and other charges slipped by P0.0837 per kWh, further pulling down the overall rate.

The lower charges cushioned the increase arising from the implementation of the green energy auction allowance equivalent to P0.0371 per kWh, in accordance with the directive of the Energy Regulatory Commission.

The amount is charged to all on-grid electricity end-users to fund the incentives of new renewable energy projects under the government’s green energy auctions.

“Pass-through charges for generation and transmission are paid to the power suppliers and the grid operator, respectively, while taxes, universal charges, and renewable energy subsidies are all remitted to the government,” Meralco said.

Meralco’s distribution charge has not been adjusted since the P0.0360 per kWh reduction in August 2022.

SUMMER FORECAST
With the anticipation of higher demand during the summer months, Mr. Zaldarriaga assured consumers that there will be adequate power supply.

“We have always ensured that we have adequate capacity in coming into our system to make sure that we will be able to supply efficient, reliable, and adequate electricity to all our customers,” he said.

On the distribution side, Meralco First Vice-President and Head of Networks Froilan J. Savet said the company is implementing proactive and preventive maintenance of its facilities.

“We continue to implement our capex (capital expenditure) projects, including the installation of additional lines and the construction of substations, to ensure we provide reliable and quality service to our customers,” Mr. Savet said in Filipino.

Meralco also warned against theft of electrical facilities, including power cables, following a recent attempt in Quezon City that resulted in a temporary disruption of electricity service to nearly 8,000 customers.

In 2025 alone, the power distributor reported 285 theft incidents of electrical facilities, including power cables. Most of these resulted in service interruptions while four resulted in physical injuries.

“Beyond the inconvenience caused by service interruptions, these acts pose life-threatening risks due to the high voltage of Meralco facilities. Any contact with energized facilities can lead to electric shock, severe injuries, or even death,” Mr. Savet said.

Meralco’s controlling stakeholder, Beacon Electric Asset Holdings, Inc., is partly owned by PLDT Inc. Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has an interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera