Meralco generation charge lower
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
The higher dispatch of its contracted independent power producers (IPPs) afforded Manila Electric Company (Meralco) to bring down its generation charge by average 8.23 centavos per kilowatt hour (kWh) in its March billing.
From a generation charge of P4.8494 billed last month, the March average cost reference would be pared down to P4.7679 per kWh.
The utility firm noted that it jacked up its supply procurement from its own IPPs last month to 52 percent; while securing the rest of its supply from state-owned National Power Corporation.
The dispatch level of Quezon Power was logged at average 73 percent last month; while that of First Gas plants were at 74 percent; though these are not yet within the contract levels.
"Had the IPPs run at contract levels and beyond, further savings could have been enjoyed by the customers," Meralco said.
In data furnished to media, it was shown that NPC’s generation charge was higher at P4.8687 per kWh while its IPPs were cheaper by P0.21 at P4.6586 per kWh on the average.
"Meralco customers have been enjoying 8.23 centavos per kWh drop in their March 2006 bills," Meralco vice president for corporate communications Elpi Cuna said.
With the automatic cost recovery called the Automatic Generation Rate Adjustment (AGRA) mechanism set by the Energy Regulatory Commission, the utility firm noted that the immediate pass on of the cost reduction was made possible in this month’s billing cycle.
Aside from lower generation charges, Meralco noted that the transmission cost of its IPPs is also lower compared to that of NPC by average P0.473 per kWh.
If added, it said that purchased power cost from its contracted electricity producers is cheaper by P0.684 per kWh compared to that supplied by NPC.
"As a result too of lower purchased power costs, even the March system loss charge went down slightly," the utility firm added.
Meralco reiterated that the reduction in generation charge due to improved dispatch of the IPPs "translates to lower cost of generation per kWh," and consequently benefits consumers.
Records show that the supply of all three major Meralco IPPs increased translating to rate reductions ranging from P0.17 to P0.36 per kWh. (MMV
posted by philpower @ 7:08 AM,
