MANILA Electric Co. (Meralco) is expecting a 4.5% increase in energy sales volume for 2024, a company official said.
“[For 2024], we are projecting about the same, about 4.5%,” Meralco First Vice-President and Chief Commercial Officer Ferdinand O. Geluz told reporters last month.
On the business segments, Mr. Geluz expects that the energy sales from the industrial sector will rebound after a 1% decrease in the first nine months of 2023.
According to the company, the industrial segment suffered a decline “despite gradual recovery from global demand shortage and supply constraints.”
“We don’t expect another double digit for commercial for [2024], but we’re expecting around maybe 5 to 6% [increase],” Mr. Geluz said.
Meanwhile, the residential segment is projected to see a “spike” due to El Niño.
For the January-to-September period, Meralco recorded an energy sales volume of 38,164 gigawatt-hours, up by 4% from the 36,553 in 2022.
The power distributor registered a nine-month attributable net income of P28.4 billion, up 43.7% from P19.76 billion in the previous year.
Gross revenues grew by 6.5% to P335.2 billion from P314.9 billion driven by higher pass-through charges and increase in distribution sales volume.
Meralco has started biddings to secure its energy requirements.
With the submission of lowest offers, GNPower Dinginin Ltd. Co., Mariveles Power Generation Corp., and Excellent Energy Resources, Inc., are set to supply the 1,800-megawatt (MW) capacity requirement of the company.
The deadline to submit bids for the 1,200-MW energy supply is Jan. 23.
The company has also launched the bidding for interim power supply agreements covering 260-MW peaking requirement and 400-MW base-load requirements in preparation for the expected increase in demand during the dry months.
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
