Energy sales of the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) at end-September this year stood at 40,719 gigawatt hours (GWh), down by 0.4 percent from 40,872 GWh recorded in the same period a year ago.
The company said the decline was mainly due to reduced household spending and unpredictable weather conditions.
‘Depressed residential consumption remains to be the biggest contributor to the decline, amplified by the erratic weather observed in the third quarter, with the transition of El Nino to La Nina,’ Meralco Senior Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer Ferdinand O. Geluz said.
He added that the impact on commercial sales is less pronounced, but still affected by the reeling effect of lower tourism and real estate occupancy. However, Geluz said industrial sales posted a modest increase supported by steady demand in cement and steel.
‘Notwithstanding, we continue our diligent efforts to energize customers, with an estimate to end the year at 8.2 million customers, up by 170,000 from last year. We are optimistic that these new customers will contribute to the volume rebound next year once weather and macroeconomic factors normalize.’
Meralco will release soon its financial and operating results for January to September.
Meanwhile, the utility firm is anticipating higher generation charge which could lead to an increase in electricity rates this month.
‘While we are still waiting for some billings from our suppliers to finalize the October electricity rate, indications point to a possible increase in the generation charge this month,’ said Meralco spokesperson Joe Zaldarriaga. ‘This is due to the depreciation of the peso which affects costs of our suppliers that are mostly dollar-denominated.’
‘We, however, are hopeful that these possible increases will be tempered by lower WESM [Wholesale Electricity Spot Market] prices as reported by IEMOP [Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines].’
WESM’s average price declined 33.8 percent to P3.04 per kilowatt hour (kWh) in September, the lowest in the last seven months, from P4.59 per kWh the previous month.
IEMOP noted an improved supply for the billing period August 26 to September 25 at 20,712 megawatts (MW) against a lower demand which stood at 13,640 MW, resulting in an increased margin of 5,194 MW, up from 4,578 MW in August 2025.
IEMOP said these conditions were observed across the regions with supply increasing and demand decreasing. The higher margin compared to the previous billing month led to lower prices.