THE Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) said on Thursday the firm’s electricity sales for 2014 could grow by 3 percent due to an increase in its industrial customers.
“We will end the year with roughly a 3-percent growth in sales volume,” said Meralco President Oscar Reyes, who added that commercial accounts also contributed to the growth, mainly from new connections and
increased consumption.
Reyes said electricity sales in the October-to-December period are projected to grow by “a little over 5 percent.” The hike in October sales stood flat at 5.2 percent, while the expansion in November sales reached 6.6 percent.
Meralco customers rose to 5.5 million at end-September. In terms of energy sales mix, commercial accounts for 39 percent of total sales, with residential and industrial at 30 percent and 31 percent, respectively.
Reyes also said the utility firm is on track to hitting its P17.8-billion core profit guidance for the year. Official financial results will be out in the next two months.
If and when Meralco closes the year with P17.8 billion in core profit, the figure will represent a 4.6-percent year-on-year growth in core income for 2014.
Meanwhile, Meralco is expected to register up to 800 megawatts of committed interruptible load capacity by end-January next year.
With the Interruptible Load Program, power supply from the grid that will not be consumed by participating customers will be available for use by other customers within Meralco’s franchise area. Through this, the aggregate demand for power from the system will be reduced to a more manageable level, helping ensure the availability of supply during the anticipated power crisis next year.
The program will only be part of the answer to the looming power shortages next summer. The ILP also does not guarantee zero brownouts as it will only be implemented once power supply reaches red alert level.