Meralco’s power sales surge 10%

Manila Standard Today
Friday, 20 April, 2012 Written by Alena Mae S. Flores


Power sales by the country’s largest distributor soared by nearly 10 percent in the first quarter, an indication of robust economic activities during the period.

Manila Electric Co. on Friday said its sales volume grew by close to 10 percent with the strong rebound of commercial and industry sectors.

“The first quarter, compared to last year,  was close to 10-percent growth, “ Meralco chief operating officer Oscar Reyes told reporters.

Reyes said the higher sales volume reflected the “very robust real estate activity and other related sectors and semiconductor, metals, as well as food and beverages.”

He said industrial growth was quite healthy while the commercial sector also posted growth.

“I think this is reflective of better operating environment for some of these companies.  Those that are construction-related; steel, also metals, cement, [they] have registered good growth,” he said.

Reyes said the commercial sector such as real estate, malls, business process outsourcing also recorded growth.

“I think increased government spending has induced the construction-related sector, boosted production,” he said.

Reyes said that while sales volume went up in the first quarter, the company was still computing its impact on the company’s bottom line.

“While volumes have grown, our average distribution rate is lower this year compared to last year.  The unit revenue per kWh is lower so we will take a look,” he said.

Meralco’s approved revenue distribution charge is now at P1.602 per kilowatt-hour, down from P1.6464 per kWh in the January-September period last year.

Meralco, meanwhile, executed an agreement with Alternergy Wind One Corp. for  the  interconnection  and  parallel operation of Alternergy’s proposed wind  farm  in  Pililla,  Rizal  with a capacity of up to 90 MW with Meralco’s distribution system.

This was the first interconnection agreement between Meralco and a wind-powered renewable energy plant.

Meralco said the interconnection would be at Meralco’s existing Malaya-Teresa 115-kV line.  Alternergy will construct a 115-kV line to connect to Meralco’s distribution system which needed to be approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission.

Meralco said the  signing  of  the  interconnection  agreement  affirms  Meralco’s commitment  to  support  the development of renewable energy sources in the Philippines.

(Published in the Manila Standard Today newspaper on /2012/April/21) article source