Power retailer Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) posted a 0.4-percent year-on-year growth in sales volume in January 2025 on slow demand, a top executive said over the weekend.
Meralco senior vice president and chief revenue officer Ferdinand Geluz said consolidated sales last month reached 4,061 gigawatt-hours (GWh), representing a marginal growth compared with the high base of 4,045 GWh seen in January 2024 due to the El Nino weather phenomenon last year.
Geluz said residential sales in January 2025 reached 1,425 GWh, or 0.2 percent higher than January 2024’s 1,422 GWh.
“Commercial January sales is at 1,564 GWh, 1.04 percent higher vs. January 2024 [1,548 GWh]. Both sectors experienced slowdown in demand, with impact of long weekend holidays to household consumption and business operations,” he said.
“Industrial January sales is at 1,059 GWh, 0.3 percent lower vs. January 2024 [1,063 GWh] due to intermittent shutdowns of key accounts in F&B and steel,” he said.
Geluz earlier said Meralco posted a 6.4-percent increase in sales volume in 2024 to 54,325 GWh from 51,004 GWh in 2023 amid warmer temperature and sustained customer energization.
He also attributed the higher sales last year to the growth of the commercial segment as retail, real estate, hotel and leisure businesses continued to expand.
