MANILA Electric Co. is preparing next year the rollout of an additional 235,000 smart meters that will serve prepaid customers and allow post-paid electricity users as well to manage their consumption.
Meralco vice president and head of marketing and customer solutions and product development Jose Antonio Valdez told reporters Meralco was completing this month the rollout of 40,000 prepaid retail electricity meters under the Kuryente Load brand.
“We started the year with about 20,000. And we received approval (from the Energy Regulatory Commission) for 100,000 beginning next year,” Valdez said.
Smart meters allow customers to manage consumption. It is currently used by prepaid electricity users and is expected to include postpaid users soon.
Meralco said it would roll out 100,000 prepaid meters within 2017 in Mandaluyong, Pasig and Makati.
“Our target market is 101 to 350 kilowatt-hours,” Valdez said, adding Meralco was also willing to serve those below 100 kWh, although the meter was expensive.
“We try to make sense of it on a business perspective. Customers are able to save around 20 percent so customers are very happy,” he said.
Valdez said Meralco planned to file with the ERC the business rules for the Advance Metering Infrastructure that would allow the rollout of the service to postpaid electricity users,.
“ERC issued the rules of advanced metering infrastructure and Meralco is supposed to file its own business rules on AMI within the first quarter. It includes postpaid users also,” he said.
Valdez said Meralco would file the business rules on AMI to pave the way for the 235,000 additional meters within the first half next year.
He said even post-paid customers would be able to know their consumption through text or some other portal.
