The inauguration of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines Mariveles-Hermosa-San Jose 500kV transmission line in Barangay Balsik, Hermosa, Bataan on July 12, 2024. The 8,000 MegaWatt (MW)-line is more than capable of transmitting the 2,086MW power from new plants in the area. Niño Jesus Orbeta, PPA pool

MANILA -- Another round of rate hikes is looming for consumers of Meralco in October. This was after the Energy Regulatory Commission approved the power distributor’s application to adjust rates due to the increase in cost of power sourced from natural gas-fired power plants from suppliers First Gas Power Corp. and FGP Corp.

ERC Chairperson Monalisa Dimalanta told ABS-CBN News the increase in prices can be attributed to the dwindling supply of Malampaya’s natural gas and the import costs of liquefied natural gas.

“Dahil itong mga projects na ito, una dapat tumatakbo ang ginagamit ay Malampaya, but alam natin ngayon na pakonti na ‘yong supply na galing sa Malampaya, lumaki ‘yong portion na nanggaling sa LNG o liquefied natural gas na iniimport natin at mas mahal kaya tumaas po ang gastusin nila para panggatong sa planta para nagpaalam sila na magtaas din ng rates na sisingilin nila,” Dimalanta explained.

(These projects are supposed to be running on Malampaya, but the Malampaya supply is declining. A bigger portion now is coming from liquefied natural gas (LNG)  plants which we are importing and is more expensive, so their costs are rising.)

Aside from this, the Malampaya supplier is also raising rates, Dimalanta said. The ERC estimates the rate hike to be at 33 centavos per kilowatt-hour, which would reflect on the generation charge of Meralco customers starting October.

Dimalanta explained that the estimate is computed from LNG use estimated at 30 centavos and another 2 to 3 centavos will be collected for the differential for the months of January to September. She added that the differential was spread for 12 months to soften the impact of the rate hike.

Meralco customers with consuming 200 kwh can expect an additional P66 per month.

“Naka-spread siya ng 12 months kasi po ito ‘yong na-accumulate, ito ‘yong naipin ng anim, pitong buwan na hindi pa natin silang pinayagang maningil habang ine-evaluate natin so naipon po ‘yon,” Dimalanta said.

(This is spread out over 12 months. This is the amount that was accumulated. They weren't allowed to raise rates for 6 or 7 months while their case was being evaluated.)

“Kung hindi po natin sila papayagang mag-increase, baka tumigil silang magsupply so outages naman po ‘yong kapalit so ‘yon po ‘yong tina-try nating ibalanse,” she added.

In a statement, Meralco said it has yet to do the final computations for the rate hike.

Meralco power rates slightly up in August

“While we have yet to do the final computations, rest assured that Meralco will duly inform the ERC and public about the actual impact of this order on the power rates,” Meralco said.

ERC says no basis to compel electric coops to defer increase

Power rate hikes, especially from Meralco, were cited by the Philippine Statistics Authority as a major factor in pushing inflation in July above the government's target range.