Meralco eyes up to P30B for distribution projects

POWER DISTRIBUTOR Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) is allocating a capital expenditure (capex) budget of P26 billion to P30 billion for 2026 to fund its distribution projects, its top executive said.

Speaking to reporters last week, Meralco Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer Ronnie L. Aperocho said the company is earmarking a higher budget next year compared with this year’s P25 billion to support projects aimed at improving customer service.

“Part of the capex is allocated for processing customer applications, constructing new substations, and replacing aging distribution facilities,” Mr. Aperocho said.

He also noted that Meralco plans to conduct trials of an underground cable system within its franchise area.

The company is also setting aside P3 billion for the proposed rollout of smart meters under its advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) program.

AMI is an integrated system of smart meters, communication networks, and implementation systems that enables two-way communication between utilities and customers. Smart meters allow electricity consumers to monitor their power consumption in real time.

The proposed capex forms part of Meralco’s budget under the first regulatory period (RP) rate reset, set to begin next year. The rate reset process is a forward-looking exercise requiring utilities to submit forecasted expenditures and proposed projects for approval.

Meralco, the country’s largest power distributor with 8.1 million customers, aims to transition 11 million customers to AMI by 2034.

For the nine months ending September, the company posted a 14% increase in consolidated core net income to P40.02 billion, driven by higher revenues. Consolidated revenues rose 4.6% year on year to P371.77 billion, primarily due to electricity sales.

Meralco Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said the company is confident it will meet its full-year core profit guidance of P50 billion, supported by growth in power generation and steady distribution performance.

“Based on the growth of our power generation and the steady performance of our core distribution in the past nine months, we stay positive that we will achieve our full-year core profit guidance of P50 billion,” he said.

Meralco’s controlling shareholder, 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