Good news for electricity consumers enduring high temperatures.
There's going to be one less headache after the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) today announced a "significant reduction" of electricity rates for April.
In an advisory, Meralco said its rates for April are expected to go down by almost one peso or P0.9879 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), bringing the overall rate for a typical household down to P10.9518 per kWh from P11.9397 per kWh in March.
For residential customers consuming 200 kWh, the adjustment is equivalent to a decrease of around P198 in their total electricity bill.
The substantial reduction in the overall electricity rate this month wiped out rate increases since January 2024, bringing the year-to-date adjustment to a net decrease of P0.3066 per kWh, according to the power distributor.
This month's electricity rate reduction is due to "sharp decreases" of generation and transmission charges this month.
The generation charge had a reduction of P0.3613 per kWh owing to lower costs from Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and Power Supply Agreements (PSAs) that offset the increase in Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) charges.
“The significant reduction in this month’s overall electricity rate more than wiped out the increases in power rates for the first quarter of the year. Despite the rate reduction, Meralco continues to encourage its customers to continue practicing energy efficiency especially during summer when consumption historically increases anywhere from 10 to 40 percent due to warmer temperatures,” Meralco Vice President and Head of Corporate Communications Joe Zaldarriaga said.
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