Meralco to increase electric shuttle fleet in Ateneo campus

Business World Online
Posted on November 11, 2014 09:54:00 PM

A UNIT of Manila Electric Co (Meralco) is planning to deploy more electric vehicles (EVs) at a university campus in Quezon City, a senior official said on Monday.

“In Ateneo, we have electric vehicles already. There are four shuttles right now and they want four more starting next year,” Alfredo S. Panlilio, Meralco senior-vice-president, said in an interview on the sidelines of a forum in Pasay City.

Mr. Panlilio said the initiative is being undertaken by Meralco subsidiary, MServ, which provides energy-efficiency services to the utility’s industrial and commercial customers.

MServ will also build an electric vehicle charging station within the campus, said Mr. Panlilio.

“It’s part of the management service contract of MServ with Ateneo,” he said.

Apart from the university, the official said MServ is also keen on partnering with other commercial accounts for possible deployment of other e-vehicles.

“We are talking to Jollibee and McDonald’s. They’re willing to test a few just to see how it works,” Mr. Panlilio said.

Last April, Meralco said it was looking at a total of 3,000 EVs for Jollibee, McDonalds and the Iglesia Ni Cristo religious community.

In July 2013, Meralco launched the first EV charging station in the country to serve as the pilot model for the development of similar stations that will cater to the charging needs of EVs in the country.

Meralco will be ready when the market for EVs becomes ripe and stakeholders start adopting the technology, Mr. Panlilio said then.

The charging station currently caters to the needs of EVs that service Meralco’s headquarters in Pasig City.

Meralco distributes electricity in Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite and Rizal, as well as parts of Batangas, Laguna, Quezon and Pampanga.

The company’s net profit rose 4.9% to P14.308 billion at the end of September from P13.644 billion in the same nine-month period of 2013, buoyed by higher non-electricity revenues and lower costs.

Its shares closed at P262 yesterday, up P1 or 0.38%.

Meralco controlling stakeholder Beacon Electric Asset Holdings, Inc. is partly owned by Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT). Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has a majority stake in BusinessWorld. -- Claire-Ann Marie C. Feliciano source