Panayam kay Claire Feliciano, Public Relations Head ng Meralco
Panayam kay Claire Feliciano, Public Relations Head ng Meralco
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00:00We will talk on the telephone line with Ms. Claire Feliciano, the head of public relations of Meralco. Good morning Ms. Feliciano. This is Audrey Griseta.
00:10Sir Audrey, good morning to everyone who is watching us this morning.
00:14Okay ma'am, you received an aviso regarding the big-time sale of Meralco. Why is it that the sale of Meralco needs to increase this month?
00:25Yes sir. Let me explain. If you remember, last month sir, supposedly, our rates will increase, but like what was explained in the news report,
00:37instead of increasing, it decreased because the Energy Regulatory Commission ordered that instead of reducing the charges of wholesale electricity spot targets,
00:49it reduced it to four months. So it was delayed.
00:53Let's go back to the head of public relations of Meralco, Ms. Claire Feliciano. Ma'am Claire, good morning again.
00:59Sir Audrey, good morning again to everyone who is watching us this morning.
01:05Okay, let's go back to our discussion earlier. Do you see any remedy so that the effect of the increase of the wholesale electricity will not be too heavy on Meralco's consumers?
01:17Yes sir. Like what was said earlier sir, supposedly, this is the last month that we have an increase, but because of the order of the Energy Regulatory Commission to reduce it to four months,
01:31or from June to September, the collection of the wholesale electricity spot market, our June rates turned around. That's why we had a significant reduction in June.
01:44Because of that, last June, we announced that we are expecting an increase this July. This is it sir.
01:51Because our decrease last June is artificial. It's not because of the decrease of the single, but because of the increase last month.
02:01That's why this month, our rates normalized. That's why we have an increase of P2 per kilowatt hour. But we're hoping that since our rates normalized to the normal level again,
02:15the next month, particularly for instance next month, we won't have a huge increase in single.
02:22Okay. For our countrymen to be clear. So four months ma'am, the increase of single is artificial. But after this, are we expecting a new single?
02:35Actually sir, right now, it's too early to say. But that means, around October sir, what we can see in the trend, usually if it's that month, the consumption is lower.
02:48Consumption is a major factor in the bill we are paying last month because the single is based on our consumption.
02:56Also, because the consumption is lower, we can see that the demand is lower. Which in turn, if the demand is lower, it helps to lower the price of what we are buying,
03:09particularly like what I said earlier, the wholesale electricity spot market.
03:14So while right now, we can say for sure, based on the trend, there's no upward pressure after we collect the single that we bought, supposedly last June.
03:28Okay. Ma'am if it rains, will the rates of electricity also go down?
03:33Actually sir, that's what I mentioned earlier. One of the things that is affecting is the seasonality of our consumption, which is it goes down when it rains because our demand also goes down.
03:44We are not using cooling appliances. We are using less frequently, particularly the aircon, which usually contributes to a big chunk of our bill every month.
03:55So hopefully, it will help to manage what we will be paying in the coming months.
04:02Okay ma'am, as a last question, what can you advise to the consumers to lower the price of the single?
04:10We at Meragong are urging our customers to continue practicing energy efficiency measures, to be more efficient in using electricity.
04:22Because again, like what I said earlier, our monthly bill, one of its major factors is our actual consumption.
04:31So if we practice this, it will help to manage what we will be paying in the coming months.
04:38We have a lot of tips on how we can practice energy efficiency. You can go to our website, www.meragong.com.ph or to our social media pages, Facebook or Twitter.
04:53All right. Thank you very much Ms. Claire Feliciano, the head of public relations of Meragong.