Have you felt the difference? I know I did. My Meralco bill arrived this month and it looks like there's good news because for the second month in a row, the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) announced that there is a decrease in power rates for the month of February.
The overall rate for a typical household consuming 200kWh (much like in my home) decreased by Php 0.59 to Php 8.86 per kilowatt hour (kWh). This is at its lowest level in two years. Last month, they had it at Php 9.45 per kWh which is a significant drop in price. This means that in a household like mine, you will get a decrease on our bill of around Php 118 for the total electricity bill this month. This js because of the new Power Supply Agreements that they did last December 26th. They got the ability to choose cheaper electricity suppliers by partnering with specific ones like San Miguel Energy Corporation, South Premiere Power Corporation and AC Energy who charger less than others, hence the lower Generation Charges reflecting on your bill.
This is quite smart as it resulted in back-to-back rate decreases at P1.00 per kWh since the start of the year. This hasn't happened in the last 5 years. Add to that, some charges from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) (where we buy our power supply) seem to be also lower this month, that's good news!
What happens with these lower cost electricity sourced from PSAs is that you can save a lot, plus after using energy-efficient appliances and devices at home, you can save even more! The money you save can go to payment of other bills, utilities, or food on the table.
Summer is also near, which means it will be doubly hard to generate with our Hydro plants, Meralco urges us consumers and businesses to practice energy efficiency initiatives. Even at your own home for example. Make sure to unplug appliances when not in use. Some of them still consume power even in sleep or standby mode. If you have air-conditioning at home, put it at mid-setting or around 25 degrees Celsius. That's going to be sufficient enough to keep your room cold and habitable. Consult electricians on how to use a power strip which can supply power to several appliances all at once. You can also opt to use natural light during daytime, photos and portraits look good on them anyway. Keep appliances well-maintained especially air conditioning units to ensure optimal performance, it makes your spot cool faster because the filters are dirt free, air clean too!
Anyway, check out this video to understand more about it!
As for me, I'll check more things at home and see how to improve efficiency and lower power consumption. We all live in this country, might as well do our share to save resources. Your kids would thank you for it!
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