Meralco explains increased bill for the month of May

Meralco has explained why there’s a sudden increase in the electric bill of consumers for the month of May.

In an advisory, Meralco explained that March and April bills were estimated based on the past 3 months’ average daily consumption following the Distribution Services and Open Access Rules (DSOAR) issued by the ERC.

The past 3-months are December 2019, January 2020 and February 2020, which are considered “low consumption” as the said months were cooler compared to the summer months of March, April, and May.

The company also raised the following factors as to what affected your May bill:

• Increased consumption during ECQ- Everyone’s at home, so appliances are switched on most of the time, especially fans and aircon. Aircons that most would use 6 to 8 hours per day before ECQ could be using it for 12 to 24 hours per day in ECQ.

• Temperatures are at a record high (max so far for 2020 is at 37.3?C with Heat Index of 42?C).

• Actual Consumption minus Estimated Consumption was added in the May bill.

The May bill is a result of the actual kWh Consumption from the current meter reading, less the estimated consumption. You can check Meralco’s sample chart below:

Notes:

• Note X is just an example; the actual increase is measured via the actual meter reading.
• Note Y – This is based on DSOAR.

In other words, for the months of March and April, you might have been billed lower than what you actually consumed as it was based on the average of the previous “low consumption” months. When the meter reading resumed in May, the differences were then added to your current bill, making it higher.

How about households or businesses with little or no consumption?

This is what Meralco has to say:

If you were not home or your business is not operational during the ECQ period and your consumption during the ECQ period is expected to be much lower or at zero consumption, this will be reviewed by Meralco and will be corrected. Your bill will be corrected by computing the actual consumption taken from the difference of the May and the March or February reading, whichever is applicable.

Installment

Meralco says that unpaid bills with due date from March 1 to May 15, 2020 (bill date from Feb 21 to May 6) will be converted to 4 equal monthly installments. The first installment amount will reflect starting bills dated May 16 to be delivered on May 18.

For more information about the May bill computation, click on Meralco’s advisory page here.

5 Comments

Wilma Diaz says:

4 years ago

Kaya nga sa bahay namin nabawasan pa tao nung lockdoqn dahil d ako nakauwi nastranded ako.average namin 2k to 2300 lng ngaun naging 16k plus bill namin hatiin man sa 4 na buwan sani sa papel eh 4k plus
Sobra taas. Less xonsumption pa kami. Wag naman hula pls.kabit d nakapagreasing ng mar apr may eh bashain ng june jng total eh hatiin nila sa 4 d pa din ganun kataas. San kami kukuha pambayad wala ako kininilta. Mga nanay ko puro senior ni ayuda isa man sa min wala nakuha. Wag naman pahirap sa tao pls. Meralcon mayaman na kau eh. Kahit nga d kau maningil ng mar april may d naman kau magsara kjmlanya nyo. Dapat tulong sa bayan. June na lng bayaran ng mga tao eh
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Jeian Nueva says:

5 years ago

Ang hirap intindihin. Wala bang better way to present data MERALCO?
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Rachelle says:

5 years ago

Bakit ganoon po kung ung bill ng mar. E by average ng last 3 prev. Month e ang bill lang namin e 1500 to 1600 sa ave. Nun sa 1500 to 1600 din bakit naging almost 4k? D pa namn nag aac noon ito na lang april
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Joyce bularan says:

5 years ago

Bakit ganon nung march and april bill namin is 7hun plus including ref electricfan rice cooker tv ilaw ok my aircon pero ang aircon namin is 12hrs lng gumaqana paq qabi 2hrs tanghali na bhira tpos 10hrs sa gbi 0.6hp inverter grade pa tpos paq naqaircon kme walang ilaw walang electricfan o tv na gumagana so pano nangyri na 4700 plus bgla ang nging bill namin ano to joke o hula grbe naman walang trbho wala ayuda ang laki laki masyado san b pde makipaqusap about dito
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edward jerson says:

5 years ago

Maniwala naman akong 7 hundred plus lang bill nyo nung March and April, pero may aircon na tumatakbo ng 14 hours a day? Kahit inverter type pa yan. May aircon din kami na inverter type 1hp, na 12-14 hours din pinapatakbo per day. kaparehas din ng ibang appliances nyo pero wala kaming rice cooker. Nag aaverage kami ng 4-5k per month. Di kaya nagjajumper kayo?

Sa mother in law ko 700 plus lang ang monthly sa meralco, pero maliit na tv, electric fan at ref lang ang appliances nya.