Power retailer Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) warned of possible higher generation and transmission charges that would translate into an increase in consumers’ electricity bills in April this year.
“We are still waiting for some billings, but indications point to possible increase in the generation and transmission charges,” Meralco vice president and head of communications Joe Zaldarriaga said.
He said prices at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) increased on higher demand amid increasing temperatures.
The Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines, operator of the WESM reported that average prices in the Luzon grid soared to P5.50 per kilowatt-hour from Feb. 26, 2025 to March 25, 2025 from P2.78 per kWh as demand went up 7.1 percent and while supply declined 6.5 percent.
Luzon’s demand went up to 9,713 MW from 9,071 MW, while available supply dropped to 13,530 MW from 14,475 MW.
“We expect higher WESM prices due to tight supply situation in the last supply month with initial information showing an increase of over 1,000MW in average demand and almost 1,000MW in average capacity on outage,” Zaldarriaga said.
He said the Luzon Grid was also placed under yellow alert due to thin power reserves on March 5.
“In addition, higher ancillary service charges due to higher reserve market prices will likely drive transmission charges in the April billing,” the executive said.
“We hope that the start of the implementation of the refund approved by ERC [Energy Regulatory Commission] will help mitigate these possible increases in these bill components. This is equivalent to around P0.20 per kWh downward adjustment for residential customers starting this month,” he said.
The ERC directed Meralco to refund its consumers a total of P19.958 billion, or equivalent to P0.1189 per kWh, to be reflected in the April bill of consumers.
