Meralco to keep lights on, assures 24/7 service

Published March 31, 2020, 1:39 PM
https://business.mb.com.ph/2020/03/31/meralco-to-keep-lights-on-assures-247-service/

The Manila Electric Company (Meralco) on Monday assured the public that it will keep the lights on and continue to serve its customers, operating 24/7 to ensure uninterrupted distribution of power during the 30-day community quarantine and enable business continuity amid the lockdown.

Meralco said it has taken all precautions to preserve the safety and health of its employees while also sustaining its continuous operations in the franchise area.

It said it will defer its earlier scheduled maintenance activities during the community quarantine period except for those deemed as critically loaded areas, as approved by the Department of Energy (DOE).

The distribution utility reassured the public that aside from these crucial maintenance activities, which affected only a small number of customers for a short period of time, there has been close to zero interruptions experienced in the franchise area as a whole.

Meralco SVP & Head of Networks Engr. Ronnie L. Aperocho said “During these challenging times, Meralco remains always ready and will continue working with the energy sector so as to ensure that electric power services remain uninterrupted. Meralco is implementing its business continuity plan and emergency measures to distribute power around the clock, especially to crucial installations such as hospitals. At the same time, we are one with the power sector in our total compliance with the directives of the DOH in order to arrest the COVID 19 situation. Our customers can rest assured that safety is also of paramount concern to us and we will continue to cooperate with the government in ensuring that we will provide the best level of service expected from us.”
He said Meralco’s “triple-redundancy of its Control Center ensures continuous real-time visibility 24/7 of the entire distribution network, even in the midst of the enhanced community quarantine. This flexibility affords us to spread deployment of personnel critical to our business operations, not only to assure their well-being, but more importantly, to ensure that power across our franchise is uninterrupted during these critical times.”

Among Meralco’s operational highlights during the lockdown include installations in Cavite City Hall and Maynilad facilities in Cavite last March 21, as well as the March 23 installations in the Manila Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office and the completion of the service application of Urban Homes on the same day, which will provide free lodging to health workers at St. Luke’s Medical Center in BGC, and the energization last March 25 of Quezon City’s COVID-19 regional evacuation center.

The distribution utility reassured its customers that many more facilities ensuring continuous public service by the national government, LGUs, and utilities are being attended to by the company’s dispatch of crews with the utmost top priority.

Meralco President and CEO Ray C. Espinosa also assured the public that “all hands are on deck to ensure Meralco runs like clockwork. Our company continues to keep up the good fight and sustain our mission to keep the lights on for each and every single customer in our franchise area. Going beyond the power and light we deliver, this current crisis that our country faces calls for us to be a beacon of reliability and hope. We are keeping the lights on for our customers as we also provision for the safety and comfort of our employees.”

For the safety and health of its customers during the community quarantine, Meralco also continues to offer its Meralco Online service for all updates and transactions.