Meralco’s energy sales volume rose 8.1% last year

By Lenie Lectura - February 13, 2017
http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/meralcos-energy-sales-volume-rose-8-1-last-year/

THE Manila Electric Co.’s (Meralco) energy sales volume last year grew by 8.1 percent to nearly 40,000 gigawatt-hours (GWh).

“Meralco’s sales, as a DU [distribution utility], stood at 39,583 GWh. It was a tremendous growth, especially with a very strong first half,” Meralco Senior Vice President Alfredo Panlilio said in a text message.

For January 2017, Panlilio said sales volume is “estimated to reflect a five-percent growth versus January 2016.”

The utility firm is expected to release its 2016 financial report next month. Panlilio said the 2016 figures do not include sales from its subsidiary Clar Electric Distribution Corp.

“If you add Clark’s 559.2 GWh, that’s 40,142.2 GWh consolidated,” he said. “I think this is the first time we breached 40,000 GWh.”

Meralco sales volume growth in 2015 stood at less than six percent.

He said the improvement last year was brought about by high demand for electricity during the first six months of 2016.

“It is high because the first half was high. We had a double-digit growth until July,” Panlilio said.

The Meralco official said new commercial and industrial establishments within its franchise area helped push for higher demand.

“If you look at the construction happening on the residential side, you still see a lot of buildings being constructed. On the commercial side, we have Tiger Okada,” Panlilio said.

The utility firm is looking at ending the year, with P19 billion in core profit after having posted a higher net income in the third quarter.

At end-September last year, Meralco’s year-to-date energy sales volume grew by 9 percent to 30,103 GWh. Sales across all customer classes remained strong.