Electricity Cost in the Philippines: Meralco Rates and Appliance Costs

Meralco rates have risen roughly 70 percent in five years, from around ₱8.25 per kWh in early 2021 to ₱14.7833 today. That is why the aircon question comes up in every Filipino household every summer, and why solar payback in Meralco territory has moved from seven years to somewhere between three and five.

Meralco rate through 2026

The rate moves every month because the generation charge is repriced monthly against fuel costs, the peso-dollar rate and the wholesale spot market. Distribution, which is Meralco own margin, has not moved since August 2022. So when your bill jumps, it is almost always generation.

The 200 kWh column is the reference Meralco itself uses for a typical household. If you run aircon nightly you are well above that.

What every appliance costs at current Meralco rates

Wattages below are typical for units sold in the Philippines. Aircon is listed by horsepower because that is how it is sold here, and inverter and non-inverter are separated because the difference is large.

Aircon

Cooling

Electronics

Kitchen

Laundry

Lighting

Other

Transport

Utility

Water heating

Why aircon dominates the bill

Look at the per-month column above and the pattern is obvious. A 1.5HP non-inverter unit running eight hours a night costs more per month than every fan, light, television, modem and laptop in the house combined. Nothing else in a typical Filipino home is close.

That means the entire question of managing a Meralco bill is really three questions: what horsepower, inverter or not, and how many hours. Everything else is rounding.

Solar in Meralco territory

The Philippines gets roughly 4.5 to 5.5 peak sun hours a day depending on location and season, which is well above most of the United States and Europe. Combine that with a grid rate near ₱15 and the arithmetic works out better here than in most countries.

Two things to understand before quoting anyone. Net metering in the Philippines credits exports at the generation charge rather than the full retail rate, so self-consumption during the day is worth considerably more than exporting. And a system sized to your daytime load will pay back faster than one sized to your total bill.

• SSS Energy Sustainability Loan for members looking at financing.
• Solar Payback Calculator
• Solar Self-Consumption Calculator
• Location-Based Solar Production Calculator

More Philippines guides

• Aircon cost by horsepower and hours
• Electricity rates by utility: Meralco, VECO, Davao Light
• What your Meralco bill should be at any consumption
• Solar system prices, 1kW to 15kW
• Net metering explained
• Brownout backup power sizing

A note on which rate to use

Meralco serves Metro Manila and much of Luzon, but it is not the whole country. Electric cooperatives in the Visayas and Mindanao charge different rates, sometimes higher. If you are outside Meralco territory, take the cost per kWh from your own bill and the ratio still applies: divide your rate by ₱14.7833 and scale every figure on these pages.