Meralco lowers transmission and system losses

A decrease in transmission and system loss charges will pull down Meralco electric bills this June.

Meralco Utility Economics Head Ivanna dela Pena said that while the generation charge increased by US$0.0018 per kWh, this was more than offset by the combined reduction of US$0.0039 per kwh in transmission and system loss charges. This results to a net reduction of US$0.0021 per kwh for residential users in these three pass-through charges.

The lower transmission charge was a result of the zero back-up charge of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), arising from the non-availability of back-up capacity for the supply month of May. Back-up capacity is one of the ancillary services recovered through NGCP billings. Other ancillary services include load following and frequency regulation, spinning reserve, and black start capability.

System loss charges, meanwhile, saw a reduction due to the lowering in system loss level from 8.21 percent to 8.01 percent, comparing the 12-month period ending March 2010 to that ending April 2010 which were used in the computation of system loss charges for May and June 2010.

The generation charge increased due to higher effective cost of power sourced from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market and the National Power Corporation.