Meralco seeks ERC okay to spend P130 B on new transformers

Manila, Philippines - Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), the country’s largest power distributor, is seeking regulatory approval to spend almost P130 million to buy new power transformers.

In a notice, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) said Meralco filed an application for the distribution utility’s plan to buy and install an 83-megavolt ampere (MVA) power transformer in the Diliman substation in Quezon City.

Meralco also sought the regulator’s go signal for the installation and maintenance of an emergency power transformer.

“There is a need to immediately procure the transformer to replace the power transformer originally allocated for the Diliman project due to the breakdown of a similar power transformer in its Meycauayan substation,” ERC said.

Furthermore, ERC said Meralco wants to install an emergency transformer to immediately address any possible breakdown of a similar equipment serving different load centers.

In June last year, the 83 MVA Transformer Bank No. 2 of the Meycauayan station in Bulacan was declared defective, prompting Meralco to shift its loads to the Transformer Bank No. 1 and the nearby Bocaue and Bagbaguin substations, also in Bulacan.

The load shifting resulted in high system losses and critical loading in the nearby substations.

To avert the widespread power interruptions in Valenzuela, Meycauayan, Caloocan and Marilao, the power distributor said it replaced the broken transformer.

The replacement transformer was secured from the Diliman substation, which is undergoing an expansion program at that time.

To date, the Diliman substation has an 83 MVA power transformer that Meralco bought for P61.679 million. However, an additional equipment is needed for the Diliman facility.

Furthermore, Meralco said the estimated cost of the spare power transformer is P65.975 million.

The ERC, for its part, scheduled a jurisdictional hearing, expository presentation and pre-trial conference for Meralco’s application on July 10.

Early this in May, Meralco also sought the ERC’s approval for its plan to buy P374.62 million worth of various sub-transmission lines/assets from state-run National Transmission Corp.

Meralco added 40,000 new customers in the first quarter, bringing the total to a record 5.07 million as of end-March. Meralco is indirectly controlled by Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. Ltd. and partly owned by San Miguel Corp.