Meralco announced another rate reduction for its residential subscribers this October 2016. Subscribers will enjoy a 12-centavo rate reduction per kilowatt hour (kWh); for average households with 200 kWh energy consumption per month, this means Php 24.00 off the monthly bill.
Meralco mentioned that the recent rate reduction was caused by lower generation and transmission charges.
This good news comes in the wake of the encouraging results of the latest International Energy Consultants (IEC) Survey. The Australian consulting firm specializing in Asian power markets showed in a recently released survey that lower tariffs for Meralco over the last four years have closed the power-rate gap between Luzon and other countries.
The IEC observed that lower fuel costs have significantly contributed to the lower energy rates that we enjoyed this year. Since August 2016, Meralco has announced lower power rates for its residential subscribers.
Dr. John Morris, the IEC survey’s proponent, also mentioned that a more efficient sourcing strategy by Meralco, lower distribution charges, and lower system loss played major roles in bringing power costs down for Meralco subscribers. Morris noted that Meralco subscribers were able to save a total of P30 billion in energy costs because of these three factors.
