The Power for People Coalition (P4P) on Wednesday condemned the latest increase in power prices announced by Meralco just as as rising temperatures warn of increased requirements for consumers for electricity.

Meralco on Tuesday announced a ₱0.2639 per kilowatt-hour (kwh) increase for its March rates, causing rates to rise by around ₱53 for a household consuming 200 kwh.

“Happy times are here again for Meralco, as consumers are forced to use more electricity and pay more per kilowatt-hour for the electricity they use. One can expect this trend to continue as power companies seek to profit off the miseries of the consumer this summer,” said P4P Convenor Gerry Arances.

The consumer energy advocate noted that the country’s power sector needs critical reforms, as power rates went up even as generation costs went down.

“Meralco itself said that generation costs, which are normally the biggest part of any electricity bill, have gone down. The current system has so far only assured profits for big energy companies and only misery for consumers, with spikes in costs continuing to be passed on to them. The Department of Energy must act swiftly to bring power rates down and to come up with long-term solutions for affordable electricity for consumers, as its mandate states,” he added.

Arances also noted that with Meralco’s anniversary coming up, the company needs to give back to consumers.

“Meralco would celebrate its 122nd year of existence on March 14. It’s far from reasonable to expect their consumers to celebrate with them, considering how easy the company finds it to pass on burdens of higher rates from its business decisions to consumers,” Arances added.