MANILA ELECTRIC Co. (Meralco) said it is exploring measures to lower the cost of smart meters under its advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) program, which aims to cover its eight million customers within its franchise area.
“Hopefully, we can do that,” Ronnie L. Aperocho, executive vice-president and chief operating officer of Meralco, told reporters on Tuesday when asked if the AMI program will cover all eight million customers.
Under the AMI program, Meralco plans to deploy 3.27 million smart meters between 2025 and 2029.
“We have to spread out the rollout. We are looking at ways to reduce the cost of smart meters,” he said.
The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) earlier said it is carefully evaluating the program due to its high cost.
“We are hoping it will be finally approved before the fifth regulatory reset. We hope there will be a decision by July,” Mr. Aperocho added.
The program also supports initiatives such as net metering and time-of-use tariffs, delivering additional customer benefits by improving energy consumption awareness and reducing response times to outages.
AMI refers to an integrated system of smart meters, communication networks, and implementation systems that enable two-way communication between utilities and customers.
Smart meters are digital devices that enable electricity consumers to monitor their power usage in real time.
The smart meter rollout is part of Meralco’s proposed P215-billion capital expenditure plan for the fifth regulatory period, covering 2026 to 2029.
Meralco completed its pilot test for postpaid smart meters on Dec. 9, 2024, with 5,248 active customers as of yearend. The company implemented a phased approach to onboard customers and collect extensive data across different areas, customer segments, and seasonal variations.
Meralco’s controlling stakeholder, Beacon Electric Asset Holdings, Inc., is partly owned by PLDT Inc.
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