No power disconnection until end-August: Meralco

- Advertisement -

Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) assured it will not implement line disconnection until the end of August, with the possibility of extending the relief further.

But in a virtual briefing yesterday, company spokesman Joe Zaldarriaga said customers must pay at least one of the staggered bills to be excluded in the disconnection list.

Zaldarriaga said “keeping the lights on” is Meralco’s priority right now.

- Advertisement -

“We (have) completed our meter readings so by the end of June, all our bills are now based on actual meter readings. We handle concerns of customers individually. We will address and we will continue engaging all of our customers one-on-one. It is definitely challenging but we understand also that there are still questions,” he added.

When asked for the percentage of complaints that are being resolved by the company on questions related to billing, Zaldarriaga said Meralco is collating the official data.

But he said most customers have understood their billing situation when the one-on-one method was used.

Meralco said it will honor its obligations to power suppliers faithfully.

Lawrence Fernandez, Meralco vice president and head of utility economics, in the same briefing said peak demand in the first quarter of the year was around 7,600 megawatts (MW) compared to the second quarter’s peak of 7,000 MW which was hit in June.

“While this is higher than the 5,500 MW peak in April, at the height of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), demand is still lower than pre-ECQ levels,” Fernandez said.

Author

- Advertisement -

Share post: