The Manila Electric Company (Meralco) closed 2019 with a total net income of P23.8 billion, which is 6 percent higher compared to 2018’s 22.4 billion.
According to Meralco, this jump can be mainly attributed to energy sales sold, which increased by 6 percent with 46, 6781 GWh.
The increase in energy sales was mainly driven by the growth in Meralco’s customer base, which rose by 4 percent with a total of 6.9 million customer accounts, for a net 268,000 new customer accounts. Customer base was reportedly boosted by Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) as well as Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sectors.
Another factor with Meralco’s increase in net income was the operation of San Buenaventura Power Limited (SBPL) supercritical coal-fired power plant, with P0.3 billion worth of contributions.
Last year, Meralco launched SBPL 455 MW supercritical coal-fired power plants in Mauban, Quezon, which began commercial operations on September 26, 2019.
This provided 852 GWh of energy to Meralco at an average plant availability of over 87 percent as of December 31, 2019.
Meanwhile, Meralco also introduced its Sustainability Office (SO) affirming its commitment to sustainability as the part of the company’s strategy and operations.
In line with its sustainability program were the electrification efforts in Isla Verde and Cagbalete Islands in Batangas and Quezon provinces, respectively.
Isla Verde’s 32 kWp solar photovoltaic (PV) panels and 18 kW battery energy storage currently serves 29 households.
Cagbalete Island uses a 60 kWp solar PV panels and 30 kW battery energy storage, providing electricity to 154 households.
Also part of the company’s sustainability initiatives was the implementation of total ban on single use plastics in all of its facilities, offices, sectors, and subsidiaries, which was effective starting October 2019.
