The Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) is encouraging more establishments to enroll in the interruptible load program (ILP) which it said has helped avert power interruptions in its franchise area when the Luzon grid was placed under red alert last month.
Under the ILP, customers with large electricity consumption run their own generator sets whenever supply of electricity in the grid is short in exchange for incentives.
The cost of fuel they use in running their own power source is paid by consumers in accordance with a formula approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission.
Meralco said 72 business establishments enrolled under ILP had to temporarily de-load when the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines warned that power interruptions were imminent due to insufficient operating reserves last September 12.
The company said close to 298 megawatts (MW) were de-loaded from the grid with the help of customers including properties owned by the SM Group, Waltermart, Ayala Land, Belle Corp. and Citystate Centre Condo Corp.
“As of September 2022, we have about 582 MW from 121 companies enrolled in the ILP. We continue to call on more participants and to those who are not yet eligible — to exercise prudence in the usage of electricity,” said Meralco vice president and head of enterprise and national government Ma. Cecilia Domingo, in a statement.
Meralco said with commercial and industrial segments accounting for a huge part of its customer base, cooperation and support of customers with at least 1 MW power demand is crucial to the further success of the ILP.
“We recognize the value of our partnership with the ILP participants, which really helped us in ensuring that there will be continuous, stable and reliable electricity service, consistent with our commitment to keep the lights on for our customers,” said Joe Zaldarriaga, Meralco vice president and head of corporate communications.
