MANILA Electric Co. (Meralco), the country’s largest distribution-utility firm, likely ended the first six months of the year with an 11-percent growth in sales volume.
“Estimated year-to-date sales increased by 11.1 percent, while June 2016 versus June 2015 grew by 5.5 percent,” Meralco Senior Vice President and Head of Customer Retail Services and Corporate Communications Alfredo Panlilio said in an interview.
The Meralco official said the numbers are still preliminary, and these were just estimates as of July 1. The biggest electricity retailer is expected to report its first-half financial performance in August.
The growth, he added, was mainly “driven by the residential segment.”
The June sales-growth figures were lower from a month ago, probably brought about by a cooler temperature.
Panlilio said last month Meralco posted an increase of 10.7-percent sales growth in May compared to the same month in 2015. year-to-date sales volume, meanwhile, grew by 12.4 percent.
“There might be an impact on sales because of temperature, but it’s too early to say how it will end up by year-end, surely lower, but hopefully not too low,” Panlilio said earlier.
From January to March this year, the volume of energy sales stood at 9,077 gigawat-hours (GWh), 12 percent higher than the 8,092 GWh in 2015. This is the highest since July 2010.
The residential segment was the most significant contributor to the increase in sales, surging by as much as 20 percent, as of end-March. Commercial sales volume rose by 13 percent, while industrial sales volume grew by 5 percent. Meralco’s customer base grew to 5.8 million at end-March this year. Of the number, 92 percent was accounted for by residential customers. Residential energy sales volumes increased to 2,714 GWh.
The utility firm reported the increasing number of air-conditioning and refrigeration units installed and the increasing use of electronic devices accounted for part of this volume growth. It is estimated that every degree change in temperature translates to approximately 5 GWh of energy consumption, Meralco said.
“New hotels are coming up. The new plant of Eagle cement has been put into stream. There are new businesses coming up. Tiger Resorts is coming in the last quarter of the year. There are a lot of new customers coming in, big and small, that might still push growth,” Panlilio said.
