Meralco eyes 4.5% growth in electricity sales amid robust economy

Alena Mae S. Flores – January 21, 2024, 8:20 pm
from manilastandard.net

Meralco lineman examined the electric hanging meters base at a post along Quezon Ave in Quezon City, As the Meralco has announced an increase in its power rates this month due to higher fuel costs and a weaker peso raised the generation charge as they said. PHOTO/MANNY PALMERO

Power retailer Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) is looking at a 4.5-percent sales volume growth in 2024, the same rate as in 2023, amid the continued strong performance of the economy this year.

“2023 we will be hovering about 4.4 percent, 4.5 percent, around that. In 2024, we are projecting about the same—about 4.5 percent,” Meralco senior vice president and chief revenue officer Ferdinand Geluz said.

Geluz said Meralco expects the industrial sector to rebound this year and the commercial sector to sustain its improvement.

“We don’t expect another double-digit for commercial, but still we’re expecting around 5 or 6 percent. We are expecting industrial rebound, but of course with El Niño, there will be a slight spike in residential,” he said.

Consolidated distribution utility sales volumes rose 4 percent in the first nine months of 2023, reaching 38,164 gigawatt-hours (GWh) compared with 36,553 GWh in the same period in 2022.

“We observed the sustained upward trajectory in the volume of energy sold throughout the nine-month period across all customer segments,” Meralco executive vice president and chief operating officer Ronnie Aperocho said earlier.

The commercial segment accounted for 37 percent of total energy sales mix from January to September 2023, up from 35 percent in 2022, while residential sales remained at 35 percent.

Industrial segment’s share dropped slightly from 29 percent to 28 percent.

Residential sales volume further recovered and raised nine-month sales by 3 percent to 13,363 GWh from 12,926 GWh a year ago, on above-average mean temperature brought about by the El Niño phenomenon.

Increased consumption was also noted in condominiums and dormitories as on-site classes in colleges and universities resumed and on-site work arrangements increased.