MANILA, Philippines?The Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) has petitioned government regulators for approval to lower the generation charge for March, claiming that the sudden increase in the generation charge might be too much for consumers.

Meralco said because of higher generation costs, the generation charge has increased by P1.8298 per kilowatt hour to P6.76 per kWh, the highest increase recorded in recent years.

It said that it incurred in February a total generation cost of P15.9 billion, which would translate to a generation charge of P6.76 per kWh for customers this month.

In its petition before the Energy Regulatory Commission Tuesday, Meralco said that to try to recover these high generation costs immediately would place ?great financial burden upon its customers.?

To mitigate the impact on consumers, Meralco has proposed to cut the increase in the generation charge by 44.6 centavos to P1.3852 per kWh this month, instead of reflecting the full generation charge.

This means that the basic generation charge for March in customers? electricity bills this month will be P6.3154 per kWh, and not the full P6.76 per kWh.

With the proposed P1.3852-per-kWh increase, households consuming 100 kWh a month can expect their March electricity bills to increase by P138.52, while those consuming 200 kWh should see their bills rising by P277.04 this month.

Meralco has also proposed that the remaining balance of the generation cost (equivalent to P1.046 billion) be spread over a six-month period. From April to September, Meralco will thus collect seven centavos per kWh, representing the amount that was not charged in the March billing.

The distribution utility explained the sudden and sharp increase in the generation cost as being caused by the high prices of the power supply it sources from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM).

It also cited the shortage of electricity supply because several plants are undergoing preventive or emergency maintenance, or the reduced water levels in the hydroelectric plants because of the El Niño weather phenomenon.

In its petition, Meralco said it would not be able to promptly pay the cost of generation to its suppliers without immediately recovering these costs from its customers.

Meralco currently sources its power requirements from the WESM, the state-run National Power Corp. and three independent power producers?the 1,000-MW Sta. Rita and the 500-MW San Lorenzo gas plants, both of which are owned and operated by the Lopez-owned First Gas Corp., and Quezon Power.