Fifteen years. That's how long Manila went without a Meralco rate reset, and it lands on the very next bill. This is Power Bill. Today: that reset, an Arizona credit worth reading twice, a BGE hike you can still fight, and Massachusetts actually doing something about winter. Fight's the right word. Manila first. One tap on follow, and we'll be back in your ears before you know it. BusinessWorld Online, with Sheldeen Joy Talavera:
The ERC approved an average distribution rate of P1.48 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for the regulatory year ending June 30, 2027, up from Meralco’s current rate of about P1.35 per kWh. The approved rate is below the P2.34 per kWh sought by the utility.
I'll say it. The ERC cut Meralco's ask hard. P2.34 a kilowatt-hour requested, P1.48 approved, and the four-year revenue requirement came in at about P342 billion against P532 billion sought. Thirty-six percent off the request. And keep the scale straight. Meralco's current distribution rate is about P1.35, so the increase is roughly thirteen centavos a kilowatt-hour. Run that on 100 kWh and you get about P13. That's just my arithmetic, it isn't a residential tariff, and it's only the distribution line. Generation, transmission and taxes sit outside this decision. Now do the utility's number. P2.34 is nearly a peso more per kWh than today. That's what Meralco walked in asking more than 8 million customers to carry, per the Inquirer. And this is the first reset since 2011. Fifteen years with nobody formally checking the math on that line. Which is why the size of the cut is the story. On timing, the ERC chair says it hits the next billing cycle once Meralco gets the decision. The text's still in final proofreading. From Eastern Arizona Courier:
Arizona Public Service customers will receive a one-time credit on their November electric bills under a measure unanimously approved Thursday by the Arizona Corporation Commission. The average residential customer could save about $14.70 through the combination of the credit and a temporary suspension of the utility’s monthly Renewable Energy Adjustment Charge, according to the commission.
Okay, I'll give Arizona this one. APS customers don't file anything, don't hire anybody, don't show up anywhere. The Corporation Commission voted it through unanimously Thursday, and it just lands on the November bill. Just read the $14.70 carefully. It's the commission's estimated average, so yours will vary. And it's two things stacked: a one-time credit, plus one month without the Environmental Benefits Surcharge, which runs about $2.49. Which comes back December 1st. Right as the heat kicks on. If you're still behind from the summer bills Commissioner Márquez Peterson brought up, one November credit isn't gonna catch you up. So December's statement is the one to compare against. And the money itself? About $33.6 million that was sitting uncommitted in that renewable charge account, partly from businesses voluntarily buying green credits through Green Power Partners. Leftovers, handed back once. WMAR-2 News, with Siobhan Garrett:
Baltimore Gas and Electric is asking Maryland regulators to approve a $156.1 million increase in electric base rates. BGE estimates that if the request is approved in full, the average residential customer using 851 kilowatt-hours a month would see their total electric bill increase by about 4%, or roughly $8 a month.
BGE wants a hundred fifty-six point one million dollars, and the price tag they're showing customers is about eight bucks a month. And they've tucked a FlexPay prepay option into the same filing. Prepay. For the households already coming up short at the end of the month. Keep that eight dollars attributed. It's BGE's estimate, on BGE's request, for a customer using 851 kilowatt-hours. Roughly four percent. Proposed, not approved. Electric heat in a row house in January? Your eight's bigger. And Meralco just showed us what an ask is worth. It's an opening bid. Maryland's PSC has had this one suspended since August first. But BGE's lawyers will be at every hearing, and a ratepayer gets the public comment slot. That's about it. So here's how you get into the record. First hearing's virtual, Monday, Oct. 26, six-thirty. To speak, email Kimberly Schock at the commission, kimberly.schock@maryland.gov, by noon Oct. 22. Miss that, there's Nov. 4, then Nov. 18 in person downtown. Written comments are due Dec. 23. Beacon Hill Times writes:
The Governor will also eliminate the SMART program charge on residential electric bills for three months and cut the Alternative Portfolio Standard by 50 percent this winter. Overall, this plan will lower energy bills for approximately 85 percent of ratepayers.
Okay, a governor actually did something about winter before winter showed up. Healey declared a State of Energy Emergency, and by executive order she's pulling the SMART program charge off residential electric bills for three months. I'll take it. Plus a second line item: the Alternative Portfolio Standard gets cut fifty percent this winter. Different APS from the Arizona one we just did. Same lesson, though. Both charges are temporary, so find out when yours comes back. Right. The part I'd underline is the heating-oil piece. Roughly fifty thousand middle-class households who never qualified for assistance get a new benefit. And there's more help for about 156,000 low-income families in HEAP. The state says this lowers bills for about 85 percent of ratepayers. That's a share of customers, with no dollar figure attached. So I'm not putting a savings number on your bill until I can see one, line by line. Fair. And she's asking Congress for another three billion for LIHEAP, which would take it to seven. That one's a letter, so nobody's getting a check from it yet. Oil households, the eligibility details are at mass.gov/heatinghelp. Got feedback, a story idea, or a correction? Email us at powerbill at lantern podcasts dot com. We'd love to hear what you're thinking and what we should cover next.
Here's what we're watching. Maryland's first public comment hearing on BGE's proposed $8-a-month increase is October 26, and speaker registration's due October 22. And in Arizona, APS's roughly $2.49 Environmental Benefits Surcharge goes back to its approved rate December 1, after being waived on November bills.
Links to every story are in the show notes, so check out the ones you want to follow more closely. That's Power Bill for today. This is a Lantern Podcast.