Manila: Several Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) rulings led to a decrease in power rates of Pangilinan-led Manila Electric Company (Meralco) for the May 2026 billing period by as much as PHP0.0151 per kilowatt-hour (kWh). Meralco's power rate for May went down to PHP14.3345/kWh from last month's PHP14.3496/kWh.
According to Philippines News Agency, this reduction followed the ERC's authorization allowing Meralco to shorten the period of its ongoing refund of around PHP14.2 billion to residential consumers from two years to just one year, effectively doubling the monthly refund from PHP0.2024/kWh to PHP0.4278/kWh. Transmission charges also declined, contributing to the lower power rates for the month.
Also contributing to the decline is the ERC's decision to suspend for two months, from May to June, the collection of the PHP0.0371/kWh Green Energy Auction Allowance (GEA-All), in line with the delayed implementation of the value-added tax (VAT) exemption for power generated through indigenous natural gas. However, higher prices of capacity sourced from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), rising fuel costs, and the depreciation of the Philippine peso against the U.S. dollar pushed rates higher for the month.
Because of higher WESM prices, the ERC allowed Meralco to implement the rate of line rental cap under ERC-approved power supply agreements (PSAs) entered into by the distribution utility for this month. The line rental cap refers to the fee collected from consumers under the generation charge for the transfer of electricity through the transmission system.
'While our customers stand to benefit from relatively stable rates this May, we would like to advise our customers that the bills that they will receive may still go up depending on their actual consumption, which usually increases during the summer months,' Meralco Vice President and Head of Corporate Communications Joe Zaldarriaga said in a briefing.
In another briefing, National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) Business and Regulatory Development head Julius Ryan Datingaling said their transmission rate for the month went down to PHP1.5983/kWh from March's PHP1.7526/kWh. He attributed the decline to lower transmission wheeling rates, or the fee for transferring electricity through high-voltage transmission lines, and lower ancillary services, which support the reliable delivery of power from generators to consumers.
For this month, NGCP's transmission wheeling rate declined to PHP0.6028/kWh in April, which serves as the basis for the May 2026 bill, from March's PHP0.7022/kWh. Datingaling said higher consumption during the April billing period largely drove the lower per-kWh transmission rate, noting that there were 28 days of consumption in the previous month compared to 31 days for the April billing month.
The Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP), meanwhile, said that when ERC suspended operations of the WESM on March 26 following Malaca±ang's declaration of a state of national energy emergency, load prices became uniform nationwide at PHP5.63/kWh, higher than previous levels. During the period, priority was given to some renewable energy (RE) sources to cushion the impact of higher fuel prices. Coal's share in generation rose from 57.2 percent to 58.4 percent; natural gas from 16 percent to 17 percent; and geothermal from 7.6 percent to 8.2 percent. On the other hand, hydro generation fell to 6 percent from 8.1 percent, while wind declined from 1.6 percent to 0.4 percent.
