Maynilad taps Meralco scheme to cut power costs

Manila Times.net

MAYNILAD Water Services Inc. has subscribed to the time-of-use rate program of sister-firm Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) to reduce its power bill.

In a statement, the water utility said it enrolled in the Customer Choice Program (CCP) of the country’s largest power distributor, allowing Maynilad to pay less for the electricity it consumes during off-peak hours.

“We want Maynilad’s operations to be as cost-efficient as possible,” Ricky Vargas, the company’s president and chief executive officer, said.

CCP is a billing scheme that allows large industrial and commercial customers of Meralco to peg their electricity rates to the cost of power delivered at a certain time of the day, or the so-called time-of-use scheme.

Under the CCP, subscribers pay relatively lower electricity rates during hours when demand for power is low and the other way around when demand is high.

Meralco has been pushing for its industrial and commercial customers to avail of the CCP as this would help power generators balance their load during peak and off-peak hours.

Low off-peak demand in the country has been partly blamed for high electricity rates because this redounds to power plants running mostly during hours when demand for electricity is high, causing prices to spike.

Initially, the Maynilad-Meralco agreement will cover the water utility’s Putatan Water Treatment Plant and Villamor Pumping Station, resulting in annual savings of at least 2.5 percent on power costs.

“Electricity cost is one of Maynilad’s highest operating expenses,” the company said, without citing figures.

Maynilad, which distributes water to the west zone of Metro Manila and parts of Cavite, is owned and managed by DMCI-MPIC Water Co. Inc., a joint venture between Metro Pacific Investments Corp. and DMCI Holdings Inc.

Euan Paulo C. Añonuevo