TALIWAS sa nauna nitong pagtaya na bawas-singil, inanunsiyo ng Manila Electric Company (Meralco) na bahagyang tataas ang electricity rate ngayong buwan dahil natabunan ng pagtaas sa transmission charge ang pagbaba sa generation charge.
Ayon sa Meralco, tataas ang singil sa koryente ng 2.29 centavos per kilowatt-hour (kWh) ngayong Marso, kung kaya ang overall rate ng power distributor ay magiging P11.9367 per kWh mula P11.9168 noong Pebrero.
Katumbas ito ng dagdag-singil na P4 sa mga kumokonsumo ng 200kwh, P6 sa 300kwh, P8 sa 400kwh, at P10 sa kumokonsumo ng 500kwh.
Ayon sa Meralco, bagama’t bumaba ang generation charge ng P0.35/kwh, may malaking pagtaas sa halaga ng transmission mula sa National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).
“Driving this month’s overall rate increase is the P0.3976 per kWh increase in the transmission charge for residential customers due to higher ancillary service charges, which more than tripled this month and now account for around 52 percent of total transmission costs,” pahayag ng Meralco.
“Our earlier projection of a lower generation charge would have resulted to lower overall rates. However, the steep upward adjustment in the transmission charge effectively wiped out the reduction in generation charges causing a slight uptick in overall rates,” sabi ni Meralco Vice President and Head of Corporate Communications Joe Zaldarriaga.