Meralco announced on November 11 that it will increase its electricity rates by ₱0.4274/kwh. As a result, rates will go up to ₱11.8569/kwh starting November, from ₱11.4295/kwh in October. This means an additional ₱85 in the monthly bill of a family consuming 200/kwh per month.

This is the seventh rate increase the company implemented this year, adding a total of ₱3.43/kwh or ₱686 per month for a family consuming 200kwh per month, or a total of ₱2,371.38 in additional payments starting November. This amount is equivalent to 17% of the income of a family earning the minimum wage in the National Capital Region.

A few weeks ago, Meralco announced that it expects to earn over ₱43 billion in profits in 2024. It uses the pretext of fluctuations in supply prices in the market, which is controlled by its cohort energy companies, to arbitrarily increase electricity rates. Recently, it also cited the increase in “generation charge,” which is set by its own companies through Meralco PowerGen Corporation.

Meralco is owned by Metro Pacific Investment Corporations, which is run by the bourgeois comprador Manny Pangilinan. Its partner is JG Summit Holdings, owned by the Gokongwei family.