The Philippines continues to see a surge in commercial hubs and new community developments, driving up demand for reliable electricity and underscoring the need for the energy sector to proactively ensure that power infrastructure keeps pace with the country’s evolving needs.

As the country’s largest power distributor, Manila Electric Company (Meralco) is actively undertaking massive infrastructure developments and upgrades — strengthening substations, energizing new lines, and deploying smart technologies to deliver high-quality, reliable, and stable electricity service to its over eight million customers.

Even without distribution rate increases in over a decade, Meralco continues to invest billions in system upgrades across its franchise area to reinforce supply security, support industrial corridors, and prepare the network for a more digital and decentralized energy future.

IMPROVING SERVICE RELIABILITY, STABILITY

Last year, Meralco invested heavily in projects geared towards enhancing grid reliability, operational resilience, and increasing capacity across its franchise area.

From October to December alone, it energized six major capital expenditure (capex) projects spanning urban centers in Mega Manila and high-growth areas in Bulacan, Cavite and Laguna.

To boost reliability in the northern portion of its franchise area, the power distributor energized the new Cruz-Na-Daan (CND) — Alagao 69-kilovolt (kV) Line 2 in Bulacan.

The 25.26-kilometer transmission line, which connects the Alagao Switching Station to the CND Substation, enables the delivery of more stable, resilient and dependable power service to both residential and industrial customers in San Ildefonso, including Eagle Cement Corporation and Solid North Minerals Corporation.

Meralco also upgraded its Camarin Substation to enhance service reliability and stability in Caloocan City and San Jose del Monte, Bulacan.

The upgrade will support growing power demand in North Caloocan and portions of San Jose del Monte, including Maynilad Water Services — La Mesa Water, SM Deparo, SM City San Jose del Monte, Regan Industrial Sales Inc., and Converge J3 Caloocan DC.

A MORE STABLE POWER IN THE SOUTHERN CORRIDOR

Meanwhile, Meralco completed four critical projects to serve the growing needs of key development hubs in South Luzon.

The power distributor commissioned the Island Cove Gas-Insulated Switchgear (GIS) Substation to address rising demand in Bacoor, Imus, Kawit, and Noveleta in Cavite. Beneficiaries include Bacoor City Hall, Evo City of Ayala Land Inc., SM City Bacoor, Cavite Medical Center, and Binakayan Hospital and Medical Center.

It also upgraded its San Pedro Substation with the installation of a 34.5-kilovolt Modular GIS, enhancing service reliability in San Pedro and Biñan in Laguna, as well as Carmona in Cavite.

The project, which is expected to significantly reduce operational and maintenance costs, will benefit surrounding communities and major load customers such as San Pedro City Hall, ON Semiconductor, and the Golden Mile Business Park.

To support Laguna’s industrial corridor, Meralco upgraded two substations — the Sta. Rosa II Substation and the Laguna International Industrial Park (LIIP) Substation.

The modernized Sta. Rosa II Substation will serve major residential communities, commercial developments, and industrial customers. Beneficiaries include Ayala Westgrove, Microtel South Forbes, De La Salle University, Toyota Boshoku, Panasonic, Honda Cars, Furukawa Electric and Hankyu Hanshin Logistics.

Meanwhile, the enhanced LIIP Substation will benefit industrial customers such as Toyota Motor Philippines Inc., AICHI Forging Co. of Asia Inc., Zenith Technology Inc., IMASEN Philippines Manufacturing Corp., Ryonan Electric Philippines Corp., Santo Plastic Philippines Inc. and D.W. Plastic Corp.

Beyond industrial customers, the project also delivers stronger and more consistent power service to commercial establishments and residential communities in the area, including Waltermart Bel-Air Sta. Rosa, Grand Chestnut Grove and Berkeley Heights.

MASSIVE INFRASTRUCTURE REINFORCEMENTS UNDERWAY

Following the Energy Regulatory Commission’s approval of the Rationalized Rules for Setting Distribution Wheeling Rates under Performance-Based Regulation — under which Meralco last underwent an ERC-approved reset in 2010 — the company is preparing for its next regulatory period, or First Regulatory Period (1RP), from July 2026 to June 2030.

The country’s largest distribution utility aims to sustain reliability, integrate renewables and enable customer choice through a proposed P272-billion capital program.

This signals a decisive push toward a stronger, more adaptive power network designed to reduce outages, enhance redundancy and future-proof electricity service.

“This rate reset will enable Meralco to pour in massive investments for storm-hardening, upgrading, and expansion of our facilities, as well as technological advancements necessary to future-proof our distribution network. These go alongside our efforts to ensure fewer interruptions and faster service restoration, promote consumer empowerment, and support government-mandated customer choice programs,” Meralco senior vice president and head of Regulatory Management Office, Atty. Jose Ronald V. Valles said.

Beyond physical upgrades, Meralco’s 1RP proposal outlines a comprehensive pipeline of programs designed to address sustained customer growth, enhance system reliability and power quality, and elevate overall customer service while meeting growing requirements for customer choice, real-time energy management, distributed energy resources, battery storage, sustainable mobility and cybersecurity.

A significant portion of the proposed capital outlay will fund the expansion of both electric and non-electric infrastructure. This includes the development of 25 distribution substations and three delivery point substations, alongside the construction and expansion of eight operating centers and 10 business centers to bring personnel closer to communities and strengthen customer touchpoints.

These investments are critical to reliably serving Meralco’s more than 8 million customers and managing peak demand that now exceeds 9,000 megawatts (MW). Underground cabling initiatives are also being pursued in select areas to further strengthen system resilience.

MODERNIZING THE GRID THROUGH SMART METERS

Through its Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) Program, Meralco aims to roll out approximately 12 million smart meters across its franchise area over the next decade to better manage increasingly complex grid operations and evolving customer requirements.

Under 1RP, the company plans to install more than three million smart meters within four years, enabling real-time monitoring of energy usage, faster outage detection, and improved service response.

As part of its AMI initiatives, Meralco partnered with Itron Inc., an American technology firm providing products and services for energy and water resource management, to initially manage 73,000 smart meters across Metro Manila before expanding to other service areas.

The power distributor also teamed up with Aclara Meters Philippines Inc., a subsidiary of Hubbell Inc., to deploy 72,000 smart meters as part of its modernization push.

Meralco’s AMI program will underpin the development of its planned Grid-Edge Operations and Control Center, which will complement its existing System Control Center by incorporating low-voltage situational awareness into daily grid operations.

When combined with the planned Distributed Energy Resources Management System, the GEOCC will enable more coordinated and proactive management of distributed energy resources, demand response programs, and emerging grid services.

“These technologies are designed to enhance secondary network visibility, particularly as distributed energy resources, residential batteries, and electric vehicle charging stations continue to expand across the grid,” Meralco senior vice president and head of Networks Froilan J. Savet said.

ENABLING A LOW-CARBON, DIGITALLY SECURE GRID

In support of the government’s clean energy agenda, the proposed investments also cover expanded renewable energy access and electrification initiatives, including affordable solar solutions for households and solar home systems for remote and environmentally protected areas.

To further support sustainable mobility, Meralco is advancing fleet electrification and deploying electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure across its facilities in compliance with the Electric Vehicle Industry Development Act and national EV roadmap targets.

Complementing these initiatives are planned upgrades to information technology and cybersecurity systems — critical safeguards as grid operations become increasingly digital, automated and data-driven.

“These investments are critical to Meralco’s mandate to deliver high-quality, reliable, and stable electricity service, enabling us to meet growing and evolving power requirements and support the country’s economic progress,” Valles said.