Meralco records 2.2% sales growth in Q1

MANILA, Philippines – Higher consumption buoyed the Manila Electric Company’s (Meralco) sales growth, up 2.2% in the first quarter of 2015.

“All segments are up versus 2014,” Meralco Senior Vice President Alfredo Panlilio said in a text message Wednesday, April 22.

The Meralco official added that the distribution utility sold 7,977 gigawatt-hours (gWh) from January to March this year as against 7,908 gWh in the first quarter of 2014.

Earlier, Meralco president Oscar Reyes said sales in March grew by 3.4% year-on-year while January and February combined sales were slightly below 2%.

Reyes said January sales alone were down because of too many holidays.

Meralco is set to announce its first quarter financial results Monday, April 27.

Meanwhile, Reyes said Redondo Peninsula Energy, Inc (RP Energy) awaits the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) cost for the 600-megawatt (MW) power plant that it plans to build in Zambales.

RP Energy is a joint venture of Meralco PowerGen, AboitizPower, and Taiwan Cogeneration Corporation.

“We’d like to proceed with the project and have a better environment with more power capacity. We’re hoping to get an update soon,” Reyes said.

The power facility costs over $1 billion. – Rappler.com