By Lenie Lectura - November 19, 2018
THE Manila Electric Co.
(Meralco) has registered over 96,000 prepaid electricity service (PRES)
customers at end-September this year.
PRES, branded as
Kuryente Load, allows customers to buy prepaid credits to keep electricity
going in their homes. It also allows customers to monitor and control
their consumption through daily balance notifications.
The service is more
affordable with denominations of as low as P100. Customers may reload anytime,
anywhere through multiple loading channels, such as Meralco business centers,
Bayad Center outlets and e-load retailers.
“The demand for prepaid
metering continues to grow with a total of 96,717 activated prepaid meters as
of September 30, 2018,” said Meralco in a report.
The average per capita
monthly consumption of prepaid metering accounts increased to 142 kilowatt hour
for the nine-month period ended September 30 this year from 136 kWh during the
same period a year ago.
In 2017 Meralco
activated additional 48,735 PRES customers, cumulative of 89,717. Last year’s activations
was an all-time high, doubled year-on-year.
The prepaid electricity
service is available in residential areas in the cities of Manila, Mandaluyong,
Makati and Pasig, municipalities of Angono, Cainta, Binangonan, and Taytay in
Rizal, and parts of Taguig, Pasay, San Juan, Parañaque, Novaliches, Caloocan,
Cavite, Tagaytay and Bulacan.
Prepaid electricity
predominantly attracted residential customers, as well as retail estate
developers, who cater to students as well as young families living in low, mid
and high-residential rise buildings.
Based on research from
actual consumer usage, customers who shifted from postpaid to prepaid are able
to effectively monitor their consumption daily via text messaging service, and
as a result, they can save an average of 20 percent on electricity consumption.
This translates to total savings of around P300 per customer.
The PRES runs on the
latest smart meters as outages are detected instantly, allowing for faster
restoration. The prepaid meter system allows customers to monitor their
electricity consumption, allowing them to budget their consumption and
expenses. It will also enable them to monitor their electricity consumption as
it happens.
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