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Meralco: Power rates to go up in September

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ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Linemen check electric meters at the Divisoria area in Manila on Sept. 12, 2022. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/File" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/news/11/28/20220912-electric-meter-divisoria-jc2837.jpg"/><figcaption>Linemen check electric meters at the Divisoria area in Manila on Sept. 12, 2022. <em>Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/File</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA <strong>(2nd UPDATE)</strong>— Meralco on Friday said it would raise power rates in September by P0.50 per kilowatt-hour. </p><p>The power distributor said rates would increase due to higher generation charges on the back of the weakening of the peso against the dollar.</p><p>Generation charges went up to P6.8252 per kWh, Meralco said, due to higher costs from power supply agreements and independent power producers.</p><p>Charges from PSAs went up by P1.0362 per kWh, while independent power producer (IPP) charges went up by P0.4776 per kWh.</p><p>&quot;The weakening of the peso against the dollar affected around 98 percent of IPP costs which are dollar-denominated, while Malampaya gas supply restrictions led to increased use of more expensive alternative fuel by First Gas plants,&quot; Meralco explained.</p><p>This means power rates will increase by the following amounts:</p><ul>	<li>200kwh - P100 increase</li>	<li>300kwh - P150 increase</li>	<li>400kwh - P200 increase</li>	<li>500kwh - P250 increase</li></ul><p>Meralco noted, however, that wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) charges, decreased by P0.5034 per kWh, while transmission costs for residences also went down slightly by P0.0081 per kWh.</p><p>Meralco cut power rates by P0.29 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in August following lower generation charges. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/08/09/23/meralco-announces-lower-power-rates-in-august">Meralco announces lower power rates in August</a></li></ul><div><strong>APPEAL TO CONSUMERS</strong></div><p> Meralco appealed to consumers to report electric poles that are full of unauthorized cable wires from telcos to cable service that may cause accidents.</p><p> Meralco said there are over 900,000 poles in its franchise area and these will be inspected in order to determine the structural soundness to avoid incidents like what happened in Marikina City and Binondo, Manila.</p><div><strong>FUEL PRICES OUTLOOK</strong></div><p>After a potential reduction in the first 3 trading days of the week, it appears that the series of oil price hikes in the Philippines will not end next week after all.<br/> <br/>The potential rollback in imported fuel was set aside Thursday after Saudi Arabia and Russia announced that the oil production cut would last until the end of the year.</p><p>With premium and other charges imposed by oil firms, Jetti Petroleum predicts a slight increase for all products next week.</p><div><strong>— Report from Alvin Elchico, ABS-CBN News </strong></div>