Electricity prices of Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) may go up anew this month due to the effects of the peso depreciation and the high prices at the spot market.
Meralco vice president Lawrence Fernandez said there is pressure towards an increase in the July generation charge amid the peso’s depreciation and increased prices at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM).
“On the latter, the secondary price cap was implemented for 16 of the 31 days in the June supply month, indicating sustained high WESM prices. The situation was aggravated by the Red and Yellow Alerts recently experienced by the Luzon Grid,” Fernandez said.
He said the reduced use by First Gas plants of more expensive alternative fuel might be the only factor that could partly offset the higher prices at the WESM and the peso depreciation.
Meralco’s overall rate went up by P0.3982 per kWh in June to P10.4612 per kWh from P10.0630 per kWh in May.
For June, the generation charge went up by P0.3313 to P6.5590 per kWh from P6.2277 per kWh the previous month.
