THE good news – so welcome at a time when there are so many reports of natural calamities here and violence and a fast-spreading virus abroad – is that Metro Manilans and other customers of the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) will enjoy a reduction in their electric power bills this January.
Power rates this month are down by 41 centavos per kilowatt-hour (kwh). For a household consuming 200 kilowatt-hours a month, this means a reduction of R82 in its monthly bill.
The monthly decline in power rates was made possible largely by lower generation costs amounting to 29 centavos per kwh, due to Meralco’s power-supply agreements with independent power producers. The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines also lowered its service charge by 5.17 centavos per kwh. And taxes and other charges have been reduced by 6.56 centavos per kwh. All these combined to reduce the charges for residential customers this January.
This would be a good opportunity for manufacturers to increase their production of essential goods. The lower power rates should help them reduce their overhead and operational costs, that could lead to price reductions for their products.
It should also be noted while the prices of nearly everything else have gone up in the last decade, Metro Manila’s power rates have steadily declined, so that today they are among the lowest in the country, lower than those of most electric cooperatives in the country. They also compare well with consumer prices in general. In the last seven years, from 2012 to 2019, when the Consumer Price Index increased by 20 percent, Meralco’s rates for 200-kwh households deceased by 10 percent.
Meralco spokesman Joe Zaldarriaga said the coming summer months may again bring problems of tight supply. The company anticipates some increase in freight costs charged by shipping firms bringing in the fuel needed by power plants to generate electricity.
We should be realistic enough to face such problems brought by the season of hot weather punctuated by occasional storms. But that should not reduce our elation over this month’s lower electric bills.
