June power rates to rise as distribution rate refund ends

By Alena Mae S. Flores

MANILA Electric Co. said over the weekend consumers may experience higher electricity rates in June with the completion of the distribution rate refund amounting to P0.87 per kilowatthour in May.

“We may expect an increase in rates this June mainly due to the completion last May of the final distribution rate true-up refund,” Meralco vice president and head of utility economics Lawrence Fernandez said. This will be the second consecutive month of electricity price increase af- ter Meralco announced a higher rate of P0.1761 per kWh in May, bringing the overall cost for a typical household to P11.4929 per kWh from P11.3168 per kWh in April.

“Lower coal market prices and our recent implementation of emergency power supply agreements to shield consumers from volatility of the spot market may result in lower generation costs. We hope that it will be a mitigating factor,” Meralco vice president and spokesman Joe Zaldarriaga said.

The Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines, operator of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Mar- ket, monitored a more than P1 per kWh increase in electricity prices in the first two weeks of May amid increased demand driven by higher temperature.

Luzon’s peak demand reached 12,417 MW on May 9, higher than the peak demand in May last year of 12,103 MW.

Zaldarriaga earlier said power consumption usually goes up by 10 percent to 15 percent from March to June because of higher temperature.

“Temperature levels play a very big part in terms of overall demand,” he said.

Meralco also expects temperature to remain elevated in the coming months with the onset of the El Nino dry spell.

Pse Index

SIANA GOLD MINE. Canadian Ambassador to the Philippines David Bruce Hartman (left) visits the Siana Gold Mine in Tubod, Surigao del Norte province which will soon start commercial operations. Upon the invitation of TVIRD chairman Clifford James, Ambassador Hartman was joined by second trade secretary Kayla Slobodnik and second political secretary Peter Wright on the two-day excursion. The delegation was welcomed on site by GRC general manager Albert Chan, key company officers and members of the indigenous Mamanwa Tribe who are part of the company’s host community. Canada’s TVI Pacific Inc. owns 30.66 percent of TVIRD together with majority shareholder Prime Asset Ventures Inc.