The Manila Electric Company (Meralco) announced Wednesday that overall rate for a typical household went down by 0.1200 centavos per kWh to P10.0630 per kWh from P10.1830 per kWh last month.

This is equivalent to a decrease of around P24 in the total bill of residential customers consuming 200 kWh.

The overall rate reduction was mainly due to the Energy Regulatory Commission’s (ERC) order to Meralco to refund a total of P7.8 billion following the validation of Meralco’s 3rd Regulatory Period (3RP) tariffs for the period July 2011 to June 2015 (RY 2012-2015).

The refund of distribution-related charges is equivalent to 0.4669 centavos per kWh for residential customers. This will appear as a separate line item in customers’ power bills.

“As a highly regulated entity, Meralco’s rates are constantly being reviewed to make sure they are fair and reasonable,” Jose Ronald Valles, Meralco head of regulatory management, said.

“The immediate implementation of the ERC’s order more than offset the impact of the increase of the generation charge this month, benefitting Meralco customers,” added Valles.

The generation charge for May went up by 0.3553 centavos to P6.2277 per kWh from the P5.8724 per kWh registered the previous month. Meralco