Meralco sets comm’l launch of pre-paid electricity scheme

MANILA, Philippines - Manila Electric Co., the country’s biggest power distributor, is targeting the commercial launch of its prepaid electricity scheme in the first quarter of 2014, a ranking company official said.

“If all systems go, we look forward to official commercial launch in the first quarter of 2014,” said Al Panlilio, senior vice president and head of customer retail services of Meralco.

He said for now, the power firm is working on integrating the system by mid-September. After this, Meralco would commence pilot tests for the commercial launch.

 â€œWe expect this to last through the end of the year,” Panlilio said.

Meralco is also threshing out tie-ups with telecommunication companies for an e-loading scheme.

Households availing of the program can go to Meralco business centers to reload but eventually, Meralco would allow reloading in Bayad Centers and Smart centers nationwide.

The power firm hopes to cover around 2,000 households for the commercial pilot testing.

For the full rollout, Meralco is targeting to cover 40,000 households and has allotted a budget of $7 million for the whole system.

The pilot activities would determine the viability of the prepaid platforms, the prepaid meters, and the possible troubleshooting mechanisms.

Meralco decided on a prepaid retail electricity scheme to its consumers to allow them to budget their electricity consumption and expenses. It would also enable them to monitor their electricity consumption as it happens.

The prepaid meter systems can tell consumers if their prepaid load is still enough for a given period and thus warn them if they need to reload to avoid disconnection.

Meralco signed in October last year a prepaid electricity system deal with global industrial giant GE to facilitate the prepaid platform.

Prepaid electricity system is currently in use in other countries such as Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand.