Meralco prepares launch of smart grid technology

MANILA, Philippines - Customer appreciation and acceptance is one of the big hurdles of power distribution giant Manila Electric Co.’s (Meralco) plan to launch the smart grid technology in the Philippines.

According to Meralco, the new technology would result in more energy efficiency and increased competitiveness of industries.

“One of the biggest challenges we have seen is customer acceptance, customer engagement,” said Bartosz Wojszczyk, managing director for Global Growth and Strategy of GE Energy.

“Technically, it is doable but it is a fact that customers want to understand the technology, and they want to see benefits,” said Wojszczyk, who is Meralco’s consultant on smart grid.

Smart grid means “computerizing” the electric utility grid. It includes adding two-way digital communication technology and computer processing from power plants all the way to the consumers.

Each device on the network can be provided with matching sensors to gather data from power meters, voltage sensors, fault detectors, plus two-way digital communication between the device in the field and the utility’s network operations center.

Meralco officials said the smart grid technology would bring numerous benefits to consumers.

“Customers will be empowered because they will see their consumption at hourly intervals and thus take the actions needed to meet their budgets, or else reschedule activities to off peak hours for lower rate,” said Alfredo S. Panlilio, Meralco’s senior vice-president and head of Customer Retail Services and Corporate Communications.

 Panlilio said consumers saved five to 15 percent energy based on global benchmark on smart grids.

Smart Grid is a multi-technology innovation that builds intelligence into the electricity network such that distribution utilities like Meralco get near real-time feedback on network conditions, consequently minimizing outages and significantly improving restoration and complaints handling, Meralco said.