Meralco maintains system loss below gov’t cap

MANILA, Philippines - Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), the country’s largest power distributor, has maintained a system loss rating well below the cap set by regulators.

The savings generated from lower losses are passed on to consumers, the company’s top executive said.

“Our 12-month moving average as of end-September was 7.19 percent, 0.24 percentage point lower than the 7.43 percent during the same period in 2011,” said Meralco president and CEO Oscar Reyes.

The Energy Regulatory Commission has pegged the system loss cap at 8.5 percent.

“The benefit of all these savings in system loss is flowed to the customers,” Reyes said.

System loss accounts for around five percent of consumers’ Meralco bills.

The power distributor recorded a 7.35-percent system loss in end-2011.

Meralco said its continued capital spending improved its facilities and service to its franchise area.

“Consolidated capital expenditures in the nine months that ended in September reached P5.9 billion,” Meralco said.

The completed electric capital projects include the commissioning of a new substation in Bulacan and the expansion of two existing substations in Laguna and Cavite.

Additional projects like the installation of a new power bank to further enhance power quality and voltage regulation in Makati City and the construction of a new delivery point in Paco, Manila are expected to be completed in the first quarter next year.

Meralco has consolidated customer accounts of 5.16 million as of end-September as the company added 130,042 new customers from the start of the year.

Its franchise area covers Metro Manila, Laguna, Cavite, Pampanga, Rizal, Bulacan and Batangas.

Its core net income, which strips out currency and derivatives-related items, jumped 11 percent to P12.9 billion in nine months this year from P11.9 billion last year.