Following the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration’s (PAGASA) declaration of the official start of the dry season, Manuel V. Pangilinan-led Manila Electric Company (Meralco) has assured its customers of its readiness to continue delivering stable and reliable electricity service.
“We are actively coordinating with the Department of Energy (DOE) and other industry stakeholders to ensure readiness to meet the higher demand we anticipate in the coming months, which coincides with the country’s midterm elections,” Meralco Vice President and Head of Corporate Communications Joe R. Zaldarriaga said.
The distribution utility has been ramping up its maintenance and upgrading activities to make sure its distribution network and facilities are in good condition.
As early as last year, Meralco proactively worked on securing additional supply to meet the demand of its customers. In January, Meralco entered into an emergency power supply agreement for 200 MW capacity to augment baseload supply for the critical dry months and lessen the exposure of customers to the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market, where prices are known to be highly volatile.
To help with demand-side management, Meralco continues to encourage more businesses and industrial establishments to participate in the government’s Interruptible Load Program (ILP).
The ILP is an energy demand-side management program through which large-load customers are asked to use their generator sets or shift their operations, instead of drawing power from the grid, to spare households from power interruptions during instances of Red Alert or when supply is insufficient to meet the demand.
At present, there more than 100 companies with over 500 MW of total de-loading capacity enrolled in the ILP program within the Meralco franchise area.
In addition, Meralco has been consistently empowering consumers to embrace energy efficiency as a way of life. Based on latest data, residential consumption of electricity during the summer months jumps by 20% to 33% versus the cooler months of January and February.
“By practicing energy efficiency, customers can better manage their electricity consumption while also doing their part in managing energy demand,” Zaldarriaga said.
Election-ready
Meanwhile, Meralco has also laid down contingency measures for the upcoming elections.
The company participated in the mock elections organized by the Commission on Elections to test its readiness to respond to troubles that could occur during the voting and canvassing process. During the activity, Meralco conducted simulations of outage incidents including load-side trouble, downed Meralco lines, and fire-related outages, which were immediately addressed and resolved by contractors and crews.
The power distributor’s call center group also tested its preparedness to handle outage calls and power concerns reported by election officers during the mock elections.
“Historically, Meralco’s franchise area has had no problems during election period, but we have prepared contingency plans in case of isolated power outages to ensure that our facilities are ready to respond to any emergency,” said Zaldarriaga.
“Our generator sets are ready, and our crews will be deployed in strategic locations so that in case of isolated interruptions, we are ready to respond accordingly,” he added.
