Meralco rates up this month

Household consumers should expect higher electricity bills this month as energy utility provider Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) increased rates by P0.4621 per kilowatt hour, to P11.4139 per kWh from P10.9518 per kWh last month.

- PATRICK MIGUEL

The increase is attributed to higher generation charge due to higher costs from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) and existing power supply agreements (PSAs). Meralco vice president and head of corporate communications Joe Zaldarriaga said they had to source energy from the spot market, as the existing PSAs were not enough to address the lack of power supply.