8990 offers prepaid electricity in projects

MANILA, Philippines - Mass housing developer 8990 Holdings has signed up for the prepaid electricity service of power retailing giant Manila Electric Co., its top official said.

8990 Holdings president Januario Jesus “JJ” Atencio said the company is the first to adopt prepaid electricity for landed housing projects.

“We hope to use prepaid in all our present and future projects under the Meralco franchise,” he said.

Other property companies such as the Phinma Group and Vista Land have also expressed interest in availing of Meralco’s prepaid electricity service, a Meralco official said.

Meralco’s prepaid scheme is more commonly known as Kuryente Load. The Energy Regulatory Commission approved the prepaid retail electricity service last May.

A prepaid retail electricity scheme would allow power consumers to budget their electricity consumption as well as expenses. 

It would also enable consumers to monitor their electricity consumption as it happens.

The prepaid meter systems can tell consumers if their prepaid load is still enough for a given period.

Similar prepaid services exist in other countries such as Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand.

The property developers are looking at the possibility of offering the prepaid service to their respective customers in their condominium projects.

In condominium projects, electricity rates are usually higher because residents have to pay for common areas such as hallways, laundry rooms and other similar areas.

Thus, a prepaid electricity service would give residents option in case they want to manage their electricity consumption better.

Meralco has also received requests from the local government units of Manila, Quezon City, San Juan, Las Piñas, Mandaluyong, Cainta, Angono, and Taytay as well as government agencies including the National Housing Authority for the possibility of using the prepaid service.

The prepaid electricity service works just like a mobile phone. You buy electronic load and your account is topped up. If you are disconnected due to zero load, power is restored within 15 minutes from the top-up, which are in denominations of P100, P200, P300, P500, and P1,000.

There is no initial service deposit and there is no load expiry.