Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) expects electricity demand across its service franchise to rebound in the third quarter following the modest pick-up in August sales volumes.
Charina Padua, Meralco senior vice president and head of customer relations and services, said the utility’s distribution business likely regained momentum during the July-to-September period after the sluggish start to the year.
While consolidated year-to-date energy sales for August remain pending, Padua said indicative distribution utility performance edged up 0.7 percent to 35,938 gigawatt-hours.
“[The] slight increase was driven by consistent energization performance, offsetting slight decline in organic sales due to cooler weather,” she said.
The early third-quarter improvement follows a softer first half. Distribution unit energy sales dipped 0.5 percent to 26,967 gigawatt-hours from January to June.
Grid demand in the first six months faced headwinds as more residential customers adopted rooftop solar installations, shaving roughly 372 gigawatt-hours off distribution system demand.
Segment performances through June showed mixed results. Commercial sales held steady at 10,084 gigawatt-hours, while residential volumes contracted 0.7 percent to 9,712 gigawatt-hours. Industrial consumption eased 0.6 percent to 7,097 gigawatt-hours.
Despite lower volume growth, the distribution utility business generated ₱12.7 billion in core profit during the first six months, contributing 48 percent of Meralco’s consolidated total.
Looking long-term, Meralco is moving to secure power reserves over the next decade. The distributor is soliciting bids this month for 900 megawatts of baseload power to meet demand starting in 2031.
Generation companies are set to submit bids by mid-October, ahead of a final Dec. 9 deadline. Winners will secure 15-year supply contracts, subject to regulatory approval by the Energy Regulatory Commission.
The long-term procurement effort follows a recent 600-megawatt supply auction awarded to Mariveles Power Gen Corp., Sual Power Inc., and GNPower Mariveles Energy Center, which will begin scheduled power deliveries on Feb. 26, 2028, and in 2029.