Manila: Pangilingan-led Manila Electric Company (Meralco) is gearing up for more technological innovation in the energy sector, but remains on a wait-and-see for the revised rules of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) on the first regulatory period. In a briefing Friday after giving a tour of Meralco's command center in Pasig City, Meralco First Vice President and Head of Networks Froilan Savet said included in their modernization bid is the smart meter, which provides information on real-time electricity consumption monitoring for customers.
According to Philippines News Agency, the company bids to deploy 11 million smart meters under a 10-year program, once ERC approves Meralco's rate reset application, which discusses plans on investment, operations and prices, which remains pending before the ERC. Also part of this bid is the establishment of the Grid Edge Operations and Control Center (GEOCC), a state-of-the-art operations center that will be utilized to control Meralco assets and interconnected facilities along the last mile end users.
Other programs under this initiative include distributed energy resources, net-metering, embedded generation, and electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in more Meralco franchise areas. Savet stated, 'These will allow Meralco to transition to a potential future role as a Distribution System Operator.' He declined to give any investment figures pending the ERC policy.
'The GEOCC will be part of the whole application to be submitted to the ERC for the next regulatory period, so its rollout will depend on the ERC approval,' he added. Meanwhile, Savet said their current equipment is capable of surviving and providing power even with a magnitude 8 earthquake, depending on the location. 'What we really want is we anticipate disaster, we absorb the impact, and then we adapt,' he said.
He also reported their System Average Interruption Frequency Index (SAIFI) to date is around 1.04 times, indicating that on average, one customer experiences a power interruption 1.04 times a year, lasting an average of 180 minutes. 'We are at par with Southeast Asian countries and rural utilities in the US,' he said.
Meralco Vice President and head of Corporate Communications Joe Zaldarriaga, during the same event, noted that the power distribution utility has invested heavily in the distribution system and backbone 'so that if any calamity, whether it's earthquake or a strong typhoon, we will be able to somewhat withstand.' He added, 'But at the same time, we have a very strategic protocol in place wherein our network crews are strategically located so we can respond almost instantaneously as long as the situation will allow it.'
