MANILA, Philippines - Customers of power distributor Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) will see a P0.68 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) reduction in their electricity bills this September due to a decline in the generation charge.

In a statement, Meralco said this month's generation charge is down to P5.4119 per kWh from P6.0962 per kWh in August, thanks to lower cost of power from the spot market and independent producers.

The reduction of P0.68 offsets the cumulative P0.58 increase in the generation charge over the past 3 months.

"WESM prices dropped by over P5 per kWh in August, which contributed to the September 2010 generation charge reduction. The IPPs, as reported earlier, registered an average decline of 18.2 centavos per kWh," Meralco said.

The company reiterated that it does not earn from the generation charge, which accounts for 60% of the electricity bill.