Manila: After three straight months of power rate hikes, the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) on Friday announced lower electricity rates in October. In a statement, Meralco said the rate this month will decrease by PHP0.3587 per kilowatt hour (kWh) to PHP11.4295 per kWh from PHP11.7882 per kWh in September. Lower charges from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) have driven the reduction in electricity prices this month. 'WESM charges decreased by PHP5.1001 per kWh following the completion last month of the collection of deferred May 2024 costs ordered by the Energy Regulatory Commission,' Meralco said. 'Also contributing to the reduction was the improved supply situation in the Luzon grid as average demand and average capacity on outage went down by 544 megawatts and 519 MW, respectively.' On the other hand, charges from Independent Power Producers (IPPs) increased by PHP1.8556 per kWh due to higher costs of contracting from the Malampaya gas field. Charges from Power Supply Agreements (PSAs) also increased by PHP0.1128 per kWh. Meralco acquired 50 percent of its power requirement from PSAs, 26 percent from IPPs, and 24 percent from WESM. 'The transmission charge also went down by PHP0.0383 per kWh due to lower ancillary service charges. Taxes and other charges similarly decreased by PHP0.0145 per kWh,' it said. On the other hand, the distribution utility has not adjusted the distribution charges since August 2022. Source: Philippines News Agency