March 7, 2018 | 12:03 am
MANILA ELECTRIC Co. (Meralco) on
Tuesday said it received the go-signal for a new subsidiary that will operate a
network of charging stations for electric vehicles.
In a disclosure to the stock
exchange, Meralco said it received the certificate of registration of eSakay,
Inc. from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The wholly owned subsidiary was
formed to “engage in the business of owning, maintaining, and operating
transport service networks of charging stations, batteries and vehicles
utilizing electric energy.”
Meralco expects eSakay to capitalize
on the growing demand for electric vehicles, such as e-trikes, e-jeeps and
e-shuttles.
“We see opportunity in the
development of e-vehicles moving forward. At the same time, it’s also
pro-environment. So we wanted to also contribute, of course, to the reduction
in [carbon] emissions,” William S. Pamintuan, Meralco’s lead lawyer, said in
December 2017.
Meralco earlier said it is looking
at establishing the charging stations within the distribution utility’s
franchise area — largely Metro Manila.
ESakay faces competition from QEV
Philippines Electromobility Solutions and Consulting Group, Inc., which has
made some headway in creating an e-vehicle ecosystem.
QEV Philippines last year said it is
targeting to install 200 charging stations by 2022. Half of the fast chargers
will be located at SM malls, while the rest will be in Shell outlets.
Meralco’s controlling stakeholder,
Beacon Electric Asset Holdings, Inc., is partly owned by PLDT, Inc. Hastings
Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest
Holdings, Inc., has interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine
Star Group, which it controls.
No comments:
Post a Comment