Meralco: Volume of power sales will continue to rise

By Lenie Lectura @llectura

“We’re projecting close to 5 percent growth for the second half, mainly driven by residential and commercial still,” said Meralco Chief Commercial of ficer and First vice President Ferdinand Geluz. in the first half, energy sales volumes rose by 3 percent to 24,792 gigawatt hours (GWh) from 23,968 GWh.

Monthly sales volume breached the 4,000-GWh level since April and reached a high of 4,643 GWh in June. During the period, higher temperature and humidity during the dry season drove the increase in demand for electricity from the residential segment while the continuing recovery and growth in the economy were drivers of commercial segment sales.

Sales mix also continued to shift to prepandemic levels, with commercial segment accounting for a bigger 37 percent share. Share of residential was the same at 35 percent, while industrial share slipped to 28 percent from 30 percent.

Commercial led all segments with 9,162 GWh sales volume. With the resumption of face-to-face engagements such as concerts, conventions, and business gatherings, demand from leisure and entertainment, hotels, retail, and restaurant sectors continued to improve. t he shift in academic calendar also amplified demand of educational institutions, as schools consumed more electricity to battle the summer heat.

Geluz is confident that the commercial segment would still account for the biggest increase in sales vol- ume in the second half. “We sort of had some talk with SEiPi [Semiconductor and Electronics industries in the Philippines Foundation inc.] president and he’s confident that semiconductor might have a rebound towards the latter part of the year.” t he utility firm sees full-year profits to be north of P30 billion. “We expect profits to be a recordhigh for the full year, so it’s just a question of how much. But certainly much way ahead on what we reported for 2022, which is P27.1 billion,” Meralco Chairman Manuel v Pangilinan said.

He added that full-year sales is still expected to grow by 4 percent.

Meralco reported a consolidated core net income of P19.2 billion in the first half, up 47 percent from P13.1 billion realized in the same period last year.