Meralco energy sales edge up in first eight months

MANILA Electric Co. (Meralco) recorded a slight increase in energy sales volume in the first eight months of the year as new customer connections offset weaker organic demand amid cooler weather. Charina P. Padua, senior vice-president and head of customer relations and services at Meralco, said energy sales volume in the distribution utility segment reached 35,938 gigawatt-hours (GWh) from January to August, up 0.7% from a year earlier. “Slight increase was driven by consistent energization performance, offsetting slight decline in organic sales due to cooler weather,” Ms. Padua said in a Viber message. “We’re forecasting continued recovery for the third quarter of 2026,” she said in a Viber message last week. For the full year, Meralco expects energy sales volume to grow by 1% to 2%. The distribution utility remained Meralco’s largest earnings contributor in the first half, accounting for P12.7 billion, or 48% of the company’s P26.5-billion core net income. Consolidated revenues rose by 15.7% to P283.71 billion from P245.22 billion a year earlier. At the company’s annual stockholders’ meeting in July, Meralco Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Manuel V. Pangilinan said he expected full-year 2026 profit to exceed last year’s level. He said the company remained optimistic about its performance, citing higher energy sales volumes in its distribution business and contributions from its power generation and retail electricity supply operations. Meralco is the country’s largest private electric distribution utility, serving more than 8.2 million customers in Metro Manila and nearby provinces. Beacon Electric Asset Holdings, Inc., the company’s controlling stakeholder, is partly owned by PLDT Inc. Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., holds an interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera