Meralco seeks go-ahead for full smart meter rollout

Manila Electric Company (Meralco) is planning a full rollout of its advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) program once it secures approval from the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).

“It’s not yet approved but we are hoping it will be finally approved (by the ERC),” said Meralco Executive Vice President and COO Ronnie L. Aperocho. The company hopes for a decision before the fifth regulatory period starts on July 1.

“This is necessary to support the ERC’s customer choice and retail aggregation programs. You can imagine transmitting meter data every five minutes to the market—this can’t be done manually. It requires a smart metering infrastructure,” he added.

The AMI rollout is part of Meralco’s proposed P215-billion capital expenditure plan for 2026 to 2029. It aims to give 8 million customers real-time access to power consumption via smart meters and help detect outages through a control center.

Cost-effective measures eyed

Aperocho said Meralco has started acquiring software, hardware, and meters. While smart metering tech is mature, the main decision now involves selecting a communication system.

Meralco has about 100,000 smart meters in place, including 40,000 for prepaid users. Rollout is gradual to manage costs, with an emphasis on competitive procurement.

“Our current estimate is based on available data, but we always aim to lower the cost of the AMI program. We’re exploring ways to reduce the cost of smart meters, which are currently close to 100 US dollars per unit. We hope to bring that down to half,” Aperocho said.

Smart meters and modern grid tech are part of the 2023–2050 Philippine Energy Plan.