MANILA — Electricity rates for customers of Manila Electric Company (Meralco), the Philippines’ largest power distributor, fell in January, offering households some relief at the start of the new year.

In a briefing on Monday, Meralco announced a reduction of ₱0.1637 per kilowatt hour (kWh), bringing the overall rate for a typical household to ₱12.9508 per kWh, down from ₱13.1145 in December.

The adjustment means a household consuming 200 kWh a month will see its electricity bill drop by about ₱33, according to the company.

“While there were upward pressures on certain cost components this January, overall electricity rates declined — for the second straight month,” said Meralco vice president and head of Corporate Communications Joe Zaldarriaga. “We hope that this development will bring relief to all our customers as we start another year.”

Meralco explained that the decline was driven by lower transmission and generation charges.

Transmission charges fell to ₱1.04 per kWh, largely due to reduced ancillary service costs.

Generation charges declined to ₱7.75 per kWh, reflecting lower prices from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) and power supply agreements.

Spot market charges dropped by ₱1.19 per kWh as power supply in the Luzon grid increased. The company noted that average peak demand fell by 367 megawatts as cooler weather reduced electricity consumption.

Charges from power supply agreements also decreased by ₱0.05 per kWh.

The January adjustment marks the second consecutive month of lower electricity rates, following a reduction implemented in December.

📷 Meralco