Meralco rates drop this August

Abi Sarabia M., Philippine Canadian Inquirer
August 11, 2026

Photo courtesy: PNA

Manila Electric Company (Meralco) announced it will lower electricity rates for its residential customers this August, driven largely by a refund ordered by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).

The Philippines’ largest power distributor said the overall rate will decrease by 4.28 centavos per kilowatt-hour (kWh) this billing cycle. For a typical residential customer consuming 200 kWh a month, this translates to a reduction of roughly 9 pesos on their electricity bill.

“Meron ho tayong pagbaba sa singil ng kuryente ngayong buwan. 4.28 centavos per kilowatt hour,” said Joe Zaldarriaga, Meralco spokesperson and head of corporate communications, in a statement. 

He added that customers consuming 200 kWh could expect a reduction of around 9 pesos in their bill.

According to Zaldarriaga, the main driver behind the decrease was a refund mandated by the ERC, which helped offset increases in other components of the electricity bill. He said the refund amounts to 58.61 centavos per kWh.

Despite the refund, Meralco’s head of utility economics Larry Fernandez said the reduction felt by consumers would have been larger had it not been for a corresponding increase in charges from the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), the operator of the country’s power transmission network.

Fernandez said Meralco’s review of NGCP’s billing showed the steepest increase came from charges tied to the reserve market — a segment separate from the spot market, where Meralco typically purchases power. 

He said NGCP’s Ancillary Service Charge from the reserve market rose by more than 30 percent, making it the largest factor pulling against the rate reduction.

“Ang napansin namin ayon sa information from the bill ng NGCP to Meralco, ang pinakamalaking pagtaas ay galing sa reserved market,” Fernandez said, noting that the ancillary charge increase offset a significant portion of the savings customers would have otherwise received from the ERC refund.

Electricity rates in the Philippines are composed of several charges beyond the cost of generation, including transmission, distribution, and ancillary service charges collected by NGCP to maintain grid stability. Fluctuations in these charges, along with periodic refunds ordered by regulators, are reflected monthly in customers’ bills.

Meralco did not indicate whether the ancillary charge increase from NGCP is expected to persist in the coming billing cycles.