Meralco expects drop in power rates this month thanks to stronger peso

(UPDATE) POWER rates will go down this month because of expected lower generation charge brought on by a stronger Philippine peso against the US dollar, Meralco said on Tuesday.

“We expect a lower generation charge to pull the overall rate downward this September. The expected decrease is mainly due to the stronger Philippine peso against the US dollar, which affected the costs of Meralco suppliers that are dollar-denominated,” said Meralco Vice President and Head of Corporate Communications Joe Zaldarriaga in a statement., This news data comes from:http://dhv.redcanaco.com

“This development was able to more than offset the cost recovery of SMC Global Power Holdings Corporation for its terminated contracts, the implementation of which was given the go-ahead by the Energy Regulatory Commission and began this month. Overall, we are optimistic that the reduction in the generation charge will be able to offset increases in other bill components. We’re set to announce the actual rate adjustment tomorrow,” he added.

In August, Meralco announced a rate increase of P0.6268 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) due to higher generation and transmission charges, bringing the overall rate for a typical household to P13.2703 per kWh from P12.6435 per kWh in July.

Meralco expects drop in power rates this month thanks to stronger peso