MANILA ELECTRIC CO. (Meralco) is projecting a 4.7% increase in its energy sales volume by the end of the year, a company official said.
“We’re forecasting around in the vicinity of 5% for the whole of Q4 (fourth quarter), and that will bring us to around 4.7% by yearend,” Meralco First Vice-President and Chief Commercial Officer Ferdinand O. Geluz said during a briefing last week.
The 4.7% growth, Mr. Geluz said, equates to 51,000 gigawatt-hours (GWh). If realized, this growth would surpass the energy sales volume of 48,916 GWh recorded in the previous year (2022).
“The full transition to face-to-face classes in both public and private schools, the nationwide lifting of COVID-19 state of public health emergency from the start of Q3, as well as the shift to warmer pattern from La Niña to El Niño — these combined (factors) resulted in a 6.3% sales growth for quarter three alone,” Mr. Geluz said.
For October alone, Mr. Geluz said that Meralco is seeing an increase of around 5.2%.
Meralco is projecting the energy sales volume to grow by 4-5% next year, he noted.
The company has started seeking bidders to supply 1,800 MW of electricity needed to meet the growing demand of its customers.
The deadline to submit an expression of interest is Nov. 13. There will be a meeting for bidders on Nov. 20, and the last day to submit bids is Dec. 26.
“The last time we bid this out, there were more than three, I think, who participated in the bidding. So we expect them to express their interest in participating in the same bidding,” said Jose Ronald V. Valles, Meralco’s first vice-president and head of its regulatory management.
The distribution utility said last week that its reported net income surged by 58.9% to P10.55 billion for the third quarter from P6.64 billion in the same period last year.
Consolidated core net income likewise grew by 66% to P10.82 billion from P6.52 billion a year ago.
Meralco’s controlling stakeholder, Beacon Electric Asset Holdings, Inc., is partly owned by PLDT Inc.
Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has an interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera
