Residential sales volume or the consumption of electricity in residential areas of the Manila Electric Company’s (MERALCO) franchise area increased in the first nine months of 2020 due to work-from-home (WFH) arrangements and online classes.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange Tuesday, MERALCO said that its residential volume went up to 39% in the first three quarters of the year compared to 31% in the same period last year.
The WFH arrangements and online classes began following the imposition the Luzon lockdown back in March.
Commercial volume went down to 34% for the period covering January to September 2020 from 39% year-on-year, also due to movement restrictions.
MERALCO said, though, that commercial volume has recovered on a per-quarter basis due to to the increasing business activities of traditional sales drivers, such as retail establishments, hotels, and restaurants. In addition, some public schools have resumed operations.
Industrial volume declined to 27% from 29% year-on-year, though the giant power distributor is also seeing a bouncing back since the semiconductor industry has been allowed to operate at 100% capacity with the increased demand for 5G and automotive electronics. On top of that, there’s the continuing demand for consumer driven industries, including food and beverage, chemicals, and packaging.
