Meralco vows to meet summer power demand

By Alena Mae S. Flores – March 26, 2024, 8:50 pm
from manilastandard.net

Power retailer Manila Electric Company (Meralco) said Tuesday it is prepared to address the anticipated increased electricity demand following the official declaration of the dry season or summer.

Meralco, however, called for a collective action and increased participation in the government’s Interruptible Load Program (ILP).

“We are in constant coordination with the Department of Energy (DOE) in working to ensure the delivery of stable, reliable, and continuous electricity service to customers during the summer months,” said Meralco vice president and corporate communications head Joe Zaldarriaga.

“Meralco also proactively obtained additional power supply via a series of competitive selection processes (CSPs) to meet the growing electricity demand of its customers. Recently, we secured an additional 400-megawatt interim power supply through a recently concluded CSP, subject to the approval of the Energy Regulatory Commission,” Zaldarriaga said.

San Miguel Corp.’s unit Limay Power Inc. submitted the lowest offer at P6.2708 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for a 400-MW baseload power supply until February 2025.

Meralco said the additional interim supply assures the least cost supply to be made available to Meralco customers, once approved by the ERC.

It said the additional capacity would augment the power supply in the critical dry months, allowing Meralco to lessen its exposure to the wholesale electricity spot market (WESM) when prices are highly volatile due to high demand and thin supply.

Meralco is also seeking potential suppliers for another interim power supply of 260 MW to serve its peaking requirements also in anticipation of a surge in demand during the dry season.

The power distributor urged more businesses and industrial establishments to participate in the ILP to alleviate the strain on the grid on higher demand.