Meralco’s 100,000 prepaid meters OKd

The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has approved Manila Electric Co.’s application to install 100,000 prepaid meters under its Prepaid Retail Electric Service (PRES) program.

ERC director and spokesperson Floresinda G. Baldo-Digal said Meralco included PRES in its list of projects for capital expenditure (capex) under regulatory year 2016.

“The approval will not have any immediate rate impact,” Digal said.

In the application, Meralco identified some areas for the rollout. According to Digal, Meralco provided documents on the request of some cities for prepaid service in their areas. These were Manila, Mandaluyong, Makati, Pasig, Cainta, Taytay and Angono.

The service was initially available in some parts of Manila, Cainta, Quezon City, San Juan, Caloocan, Pasig and Cavite. Meralco’s franchise area covers all of Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite and Rizal, and parts of Batangas, Laguna, Quezon and Pampanga.

Recently, ERC, in a decision, approved a capex of P15.5 billion for Meralco, or 13.8 percent lower than the applied amount which was about P18 billion.