Meralco starts testing prepaid electricity meter system in Metro Manila
08/28/2008 | 12:37 AM
MANILA, Philippines - The Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) has started testing prepaid meters in about a hundred households in Metro Manila, which is expected to force customers to save electricity, while cutting the utility’s costs in the long run.
In a press briefing, Meralco's first vice-president and customer retail services head Roberto R. Almazora said simulations have begun, but declined to identify the areas where the system was being tested.
The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) on Wednesday said power utilities were still looking at the cost and benefit of the new system, which works much like prepaid mobile phone cards. Mr. Almazora said prepaid meters will cost P8,000 to P10,000.
"The meter is still a considerable cost and I think utilities are weighing their [options] — if they can mitigate their expenses by offering prepaid meters instead of hiring someone to collect their bills," ERC Executive Director Francis Saturnino Juan said in a phone interview.
The ERC is consulting stake-holders as it finalizes the guidelines for prepaid electricity meters. Based on the nine-page draft, the meters must clearly inform power users of their balance and warn them when their prepaid credits are about to be exhausted.
The meters must also store a record of the user’s electricity consumption for the last 60 days.
Customers wishing to use Meralco’s prepaid service will be reimbursed for deposits on their old meters, and will not be made to shoulder the cost of the new meter.
Mr. Juan said consumers are mostly concerned about their ability to manage their use of electricity to enjoy the benefits of a prepaid system.
But this early, some consumers do not appear to be impressed. Pete Ilagan, National Association of Electricity Consumers for Reforms, Inc. president, earlier said prepaid metering favors electricity providers.
Ordinary consumers, while used to the prepaid scheme of mobile phone companies, doubt its usefulness in the power industry.
Bryan Macabales, an information and technology consultant and chief operating officer of an outsourcing company, noted that for people who work at home, electricity and the Internet are almost like air. "It is something that you would rather use then pay for later," he said.
Writer Venus Santos said the prepaid scheme could be risky. "How can they make sure that it will be accurate and tamper-proof?" she said, citing the unreliability of prepaid mobile phone cards. — Ava Kashima K. Austria, BusinessWorld
In a press briefing, Meralco's first vice-president and customer retail services head Roberto R. Almazora said simulations have begun, but declined to identify the areas where the system was being tested.
The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) on Wednesday said power utilities were still looking at the cost and benefit of the new system, which works much like prepaid mobile phone cards. Mr. Almazora said prepaid meters will cost P8,000 to P10,000.
"The meter is still a considerable cost and I think utilities are weighing their [options] — if they can mitigate their expenses by offering prepaid meters instead of hiring someone to collect their bills," ERC Executive Director Francis Saturnino Juan said in a phone interview.
The ERC is consulting stake-holders as it finalizes the guidelines for prepaid electricity meters. Based on the nine-page draft, the meters must clearly inform power users of their balance and warn them when their prepaid credits are about to be exhausted.
The meters must also store a record of the user’s electricity consumption for the last 60 days.
Customers wishing to use Meralco’s prepaid service will be reimbursed for deposits on their old meters, and will not be made to shoulder the cost of the new meter.
Mr. Juan said consumers are mostly concerned about their ability to manage their use of electricity to enjoy the benefits of a prepaid system.
But this early, some consumers do not appear to be impressed. Pete Ilagan, National Association of Electricity Consumers for Reforms, Inc. president, earlier said prepaid metering favors electricity providers.
Ordinary consumers, while used to the prepaid scheme of mobile phone companies, doubt its usefulness in the power industry.
Bryan Macabales, an information and technology consultant and chief operating officer of an outsourcing company, noted that for people who work at home, electricity and the Internet are almost like air. "It is something that you would rather use then pay for later," he said.
Writer Venus Santos said the prepaid scheme could be risky. "How can they make sure that it will be accurate and tamper-proof?" she said, citing the unreliability of prepaid mobile phone cards. — Ava Kashima K. Austria, BusinessWorld
