The Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) spent P281.33 million in the third quarter to support load growth and improve service reliability in some parts of its franchise area.
Of the total amount, P93.33 million financed the uprating of the 115 kilovolt (kV) circuit breakers at Gardner substation in Muntinlupa City, P161.95 million went to the expansion of Calamba delivery point substation with the installation of a third 300 megavolt ampere (MVA) power transformer and P26.05 million was utilized for the reliability improvement of the Binangonan substation.
Meralco said this investment is part of its commitment to delivering ‘high-quality, stable and reliable service.’ It said it will continue to invest heavily in upgrading and modernizing its electricity distribution.
The additional 300-MVA capacity and the reliability improvement projects are meant to support the load growth in the following areas: Muntinlupa City, Taguig City, Paranaque City, Laguna, Batangas, and Rizal.
In particular, Meralco said the new transformer bank, as well as associated 115 kV and 230 kV Gas Circuit Breakers, and protection and control panels will support the growing power demand of key establishments including SM City Calamba, SM City Sto. Tomas, Mariwasa-Siam Ceramics Inc., Calamba Doctor’s Hospital, Philippine Manufacturing Co. of MURATA Inc., STMicroelectronics Inc., and Samsung Electro-Mechanics Philippines Corp, as well as the neighboring communities in the area.
Meralco’s 12-month moving average system loss of 5.78 percent remained below the indicative regulatory cap. Its customers reached 8.2 million at end-September this year.
Last July, Meralco said it may close the year with about P50 billion in consolidated core net income (CCNI), higher than last year’s P45.1 billion, after posting a CCNI of P25.5 billion in the first half.
Meralco Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan, during a news briefing, said the full-year guidance number for this year’s CCNI is ‘around P50 billion.’
‘We are guiding our 2025 full year CCNI to grow by low double digits over 2024 CCNI.’