THE country’s largest distributor of electrical power, Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), foresees itself transforming into an Internet company that provides power at the same time.
No other than its chairman, Manuel Pangilinan, who officially took over the utility firm in May 2012 from the Lopez family’s decades-long rule, said this.
“The vision of Meralco is not a power company. In the future, it should be an Internet company with a power business,” he said at the unveiling of Meralco’s Power Lab last week.
Pangilinan, who also leads the country’s largest phone company, said this won’t happen overnight.
“That’s the long-term vision. Meralco now is still a power company. We are trying our company to be more Internet-savy,” he said in an interview, when asked to elaborate.
This vision for Meralco is also meant “for PLDT [Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co.] and many of our businesses like water….We have to be an Internet firm. This country has got to move toward that direction,” Pangilinan said.
PLDT has partnered with Berlin-based Rocket Internet AG, which is behind the most prominent brands like Zalora and Lazada.
PLDT and Rocket Internet intend to establish a joint venture to explore online and mobile e-payment applications in the Philippines and throughout the Rocket network of companies worldwide.
Pangilinan said the PLDT-Rocket partnership will help in achieving Meralco’s vision.
“Yes, it will. In the form of mobile-payment system, for instance. People can pay their electril bills on line with their mobile phones anywhere here or abroad, instead of going to the bank to pay their bills. Even OFWs [overseas Filipino workers] can,” the businessman said.
Innovation, he said, is a vital asset of any business. One can’t survive an environment that continuously evolves without being innovative. “This Power Lab embraces a global catchword—a mantra, if you may: sustainable innovations.”
The lab can be used to test the power consumption of appliances and gadgets; to educate Filipinos about electricity usage; and to help them understand the impact of energy management in their daily lives.
The Power Lab is a two-level, multipurpose facility that houses an equipment-testing laboratory, a demo area and an intelligent living space.
Specifically, the equipment-testing lab can be used to verify the energy consumption of air-conditioners, refrigerators and freezer, washers and dryers, home entertainment systems, kitchen and other household appliances. The demo area features appliance stations, where interactive energy-display monitors enable Meralco Power Lab visitors to compare the energy consumption of common electrical equipment that use different technologies. These include air-conditioners and refrigerators that use conventional and inverter technologies; TVs that use CRT and LED technologies, as well as kitchen, lighting and video-player stations.
The intelligent living space demonstrates innovative and energy-efficient technologies using a future residential set-up whose visitors can monitor and control the appliances, lightning, security and electric vehicle charging through tablets and other handheld devices.