Power distributor Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) said its target of migrating at least 40,000 customers to its prepaid retail services by year-end is “doable,” thanks to the positive feedback of early shifters, according to its president.
Meralco President Oscar S. Reyes said his company is looking to maximize the meter allocation granted by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) on or before end-December.
“The feedback is very good.
Customers really find value to it, and we are looking to bring this experience to a lot more customers,”
Reyes told the BusinessMirror in a chance interview.
The utility firm was given the green light to roll out 40,000 electricity meters, which Meralco wants to finish by end of the year, at the latest.
“We are looking to complete our 40,000 rollout by the end of the year. This was the allocation given to us by the ERC,” Reyes said.
There are about 12,000 prepaid electric-service customers in some parts of Manila, Cainta, Quezon City, San Juan, Caloocan, Pasig and Cavite.
The prepaid service is being offered on a voluntary basis. To avail, a customer may go to any of Meralco’s business center and pay an initial consumable load of P200.
Customers may purchase load in denominations of P100, P200, P300, P500 and P1,000. They will receive a top-up confirmation from their mobile phones.
If existing Meralco subscribers want to shift to prepaid electricity, no meter charge will be collected from them. On a daily basis, prepaid customers will receive a free text message informing them of their remaining prepaid amount. The customer will also receive a warning three days before estimated depletion of load
and disconnection.
Based on its rules, customers will be allowed to experience the prepaid service on a trial basis for six months. Thereafter, they may continue to avail themselves of the service or revert to postpaid.
Anticipating a huge demand for prepaid electricity service, Meralco asked the ERC to authorize another 100,000 meters for households interested in the service.
Its application, however, is still pending with the agency. Meralco needs to file for approval of meter purchase and installation before it can roll out the service across its franchise area.
The utility allotted $7 million in 2012 for the deployment of the service, covering technical and
commercial tests, as well as the
commercial rollout for the 40,000 meters. It tapped General Electric Co. as the system integrator for the advanced metering structure of the service; Orga Systems for billing operations, and Ecologic Analytics for the meter data-management system.
The prepaid service offering will enable customers to budget their electricity consumption. The system also informs consumers if they need to reload immediately to avoid disconnection. Prepaid electricity is also being used in other countries such as Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand, Meralco said.
Meralco distributes power in Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite and Rizal, as well as parts of Batangas, Laguna, Quezon and Pampanga. “We will see whether we can invite other distributors to also offer the prepaid service,” Reyes said.