Meralco, RLC partner to boost capacity

Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) and Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC) have teamed up to boost the Interruptible Load Program (ILP) capacity, or the available stand-by supply in times of tight supply in the power grid.

In a statement yesterday, Meralco said it signed a deal with RLC for the ILP enrollment of 10 Robinsons malls, which have a total committed capacity of 31 megawatts (MW).

This can potentially spare around 124,000 households and small businesses from the inconvenience of unplanned power interruptions.

The participating malls are Robinsons Place Malolos, Robinsons Town Mall Malabon, Robinsons Place Manila-Main, Robinsons Place Manila-Midtown, Robinsons Place Las Piñas, Robinsons Place Antipolo, Robinsons Magnolia-Extension, Robinsons General Trias, Robinsons Galleria South, and Robinsons Tagaytay Summit.

'Robinsons Malls has always been a steadfast partner of the government and fully supports the ILP program to help address power and energy contingency requirements, should the need arise,' RLC executive vice president Faraday Go said.

Through the ILP, a demand-side management program led by the Department of Energy and Energy Regulatory Commission, these malls will be asked to temporarily de-load from the grid and use their generator sets when there is supply deficiency and power interruptions are imminent.

RLC will add to the 121 companies within the Meralco franchise area

- with combined de-loading capacity of 552 MW - that are currently enrolled under the ILP.

Guided by the bayanihan spirit, RLC and Meralco are encouraging more businesses to join the program and help if the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines places the grid on red alert.

'We continue to enjoin our large load customers to participate in ILP so that, in the eventuality of a crisis, we have the contingencies in place to prevent brownouts. Fortunately, the projections on the dips in power supply did not affect much of our customers, as we always find ways and means to anticipate our customers' needs,' Meralco chief commercial officer Ferdinand Geluz said.

Meralco proactively enjoins customers through engagements and webinars to encourage them to enlist in the ILP. With commercial and industrial segments accounting for a huge part of Meralco's customer base, cooperation and support of its big-load customers are crucial to the success of the program.

While there are no immediate threats of supply deficiency, the power distributor has put in place contingency measures that include the ILP to ensure delivery of continuous, stable, and reliable electricity service to the customers within its franchise area all year round.