By Komfie Manalo
For economic progress to move to the countryside, electric cooperatives can unite with distribution utilities to bring electricity to the entire country in a 24/7 service that is reliable, affordable and sustainable.
As the country's most technologically advanced distribution utility, the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) 's existing critical infrastructure can readily be used by electric cooperatives (ECs) to power up Visayas, Mindanao, and the rest of the country.
This was the revelation of Meralco Senior Vice President Atty. Arnel Casanova during the 45th Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives Association (PHILRECA) Annual General Membership Meeting.
Speaking before energy stakeholders composed of National Electrification Administration (NEA) officials, executives from private and independent power producers, and PHILRECA management and partners during the technical session titled "Tech the Next Step: Shaping Tomorrow's Energy Landscape through Cutting-Edge Innovations," Atty. Casanova showcased the technological innovations that Meralco can leverage to help electric cooperatives enhance their capability to provide reliable and stable electricity.
These include the SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) systems that use predictive data analytics to ensure power is quickly restored or prevent power interruption. "We are also upgrading our SCADA systems to help ensure that power is quickly restored if tripping occurs," disclosed Atty. Casanova.
According to the Meralco SVP, the company has invested in a 3.5-gigawatt solar plant in Nueva Ecija with a 4,000-megawatt battery as part of its grid modernization efforts. The distribution utility has also invested in and has an agreement with an American company engaged in micro-modular nuclear reactors.
"We have begun exploring and tapping nuclear energy, and we have sent five scholars for master's degrees in nuclear engineering so that we could build Filipinos' core competencies in nuclear engineering," he shared.
Meralco is also equipped with advanced metering infrastructure to improve energy management and efficiency, with plans to deploy three million smart meters by the end of 2024. A Meralco mobile app can also handle customer service concerns and help consumers monitor their electricity consumption.
To ensure power reliability, Meralco will also automate substations and distribution lines. Having invested in electric vehicles, the company is also looking at advanced battery technology, with projections to build 100 charging stations by the end of the year.
During the panel discussion, Atty. Casanova highlighted the importance of having a reliable electricity supply to improve people's quality of life and help ensure that businesses, big and small, will thrive to steer economic progress.
The GDP per capita of Filipinos living in areas located within the Meralco franchise (National Capital Region and CALABARZON) is P536,000 per annum. In contrast, the GDP per capita of regions outside the Meralco franchise is only P150,000 to P200,000, Atty. Casanova said Meralco wants to lend its financial and technological capabilities to electric cooperatives so industries can flourish in the countryside.
Although Meralco occupies only three percent of the Philippines' total land area, 55% of the country's GDP is produced within the Meralco franchise areas.
Congratulating the ECs for successfully electrifying rural areas, the Meralco executive said the challenge today is industrialization and manufacturing. With everything now being electricity-driven, the power demand has also risen tremendously. For instance, a data center can consume the power demand of one EC (from 15 to 100 megawatts).
To this end, Atty. Casanova said Meralco is in a position to "lend size and economies of scale… and help the ECs provide reliable and affordable power," at the same time clarifying that the distribution utility does not intend to take over the electric cooperatives but rather, the intention is to empower them.
"We want to help ECs. We want their employees to retain their jobs. What we want is to help them become more efficient in their work. We will provide training and financial resources to empower ECs further because their task is essential in the countryside," Atty. Casanova affirmed.
Although Meralco is the most advanced distribution utility in the country in terms of technology, Atty. Casanova says consumer welfare is ultimately the driving force behind the company's goal to provide reliable electricity, and all the technologies that the company will adopt should be for that very purpose.
"We want to expand to the Visayas, to Mindanao and the rest of the country and bring reliable, affordable and sustainable electricity to the countryside… For our country to progress, it has to be powered by electricity. However, as NEA Administrator Antonio Mariano Almeda and PHILRECA president Jose Raul Saniel said, this requires unity. We have to work as a team," Atty. Casanova concluded.
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