As the Philippines gears up for the upcoming midterm elections, the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) is taking proactive steps to ensure stable, reliable and continuous electricity service throughout its franchise area to help ensure the success of the democratic exercise.

Recognizing the crucial role electricity plays in the electoral process, the Manuel V. Pangilinan-led utility bolstered its preparations for possible electricity service concerns and unforeseen issues that may arise, especially since the elections will coincide with the dry season — where power demand historically spikes and peaks. According to the Department of Energy (DoE), Luzon power demand is forecasted to peak at 14,769 megawatt (MW) this year — higher from last year’s 14,016 MW.

“Historically, Meralco’s franchise area has had no problems during election period. Nonetheless, we have prepared contingency plans in case of isolated power outages to ensure that our crews and personnel are ready to respond to any possible electricity service concern,” Meralco vice president and head of Corporate Communications Joe R. Zaldarriaga said.

“We are actively coordinating with the DoE and other industry stakeholders to ensure readiness to meet the higher demand we anticipate in the coming months, which coincides with the country’s midterm elections,” he added.

Powering democracy

Meralco has been actively coordinating with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) since September 2024 in preparation for the polls. With nearly 3,000 polling centers, over 100 canvassing centers and more than 20 other vital election sites within its franchise area, Meralco has a huge responsibility to ensure that contingency measures are in place for reliable power service to help uphold the integrity of the elections.

Last January, Meralco participated in the Comelec-led mock elections where crews and personnel of the utility simulated quick response measures to possible power service troubles that may emerge during the elections such as downed electricity lines, loadside trouble and fire-related outages. The power distributor’s call center group also tested its preparedness to handle outage calls and power concerns reported by election officers during the mock elections.

Meralco has already completed the inspection, maintenance, and necessary upgrading of its facilities serving polling and canvassing centers as well as other vital election sites identified by Comelec that will be used for the midterm polls to ensure that its entire distribution network will be in optimum condition on election day.

For the upcoming elections, the distribution utility will deploy over 150 generator sets and more than 470 flood lights in strategic areas to complement the readiness of Meralco crews and personnel who will be on standby 24/7 throughout the election process.

Meralco also has a dedicated election hotline to ensure that power service concerns during the midterm polls can be immediately attended.

“We are one with the country in working towards the success of this important democratic exercise. Rest assured that our crews and assets will be deployed in strategic locations so that in case of isolated interruptions, we can immediately respond and resolve any problem,” Zaldarriaga said.

Reliable power service beyond the elections

Beyond election preparedness, Meralco is relentless in ensuring the stable electricity service to its 8 million customers throughout the critical dry season period.

At the start of the year, Meralco entered into an emergency power supply agreement for 200 MW capacity to augment baseload supply for the dry months and lessen the exposure of customers to the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market, where prices are known to be highly volatile.

To help with demand-side management, Meralco continues to encourage more businesses and industrial establishments to participate in the government’s Interruptible Load Program (ILP).

The ILP is an energy demand-side management program through which large-load customers are asked to use their generator sets or shift their operations, instead of drawing power from the grid, to spare households from power interruptions during instances of Red Alert or when supply is insufficient to meet the demand.

At present, there are more than 100 companies with over 500 MW of total de-loading capacity enrolled in the ILP program within the Meralco franchise area.

Empowering customers to embrace energy efficiency

Meralco has also been consistently empowering consumers to embrace energy efficiency as a way of life so they can better manage their electricity consumption especially during the dry season.

Based on latest data, residential consumption of electricity during the dry season jumped by 20 percent to 33 percent versus the cooler months of January and February due to longer and more frequent use of cooling appliances such as air conditioners and electric fans.

“By practicing energy efficiency, customers can better manage their electricity consumption while also doing their part in managing energy demand,” Zaldarriaga said.

Among the tools that customers can use to better monitor and manage their electricity consumption is the Appliance Calculator, which can be found on the MyMeralco App. Through the Appliance Calculator, Meralco empowers its customers to stay in control of their electricity use by providing them with data on how much power is used by different appliances and gadgets so they can manage their budgets better.

Meralco also regularly shares practical ways on how to observe energy efficiency.

Some tips include unplugging appliances when not in use, regular cleaning of the air conditioner filter to optimize its use, ironing clothes in large batches, refraining from overfilling refrigerators, using natural light whenever possible and keeping the blades of electric fans clean.