Veco targets 2% growth in per-kilowatt-hour sales

CEBU, Philippines - The Visayan Electric Company (VECO) targets to grow at least two percent of total per-kilowatt-hour sales growth this year, as an upswing trend is noted among the residential consumers.

“Because of low inflation rate, people are spending more time at home,” said VECO vice president for administration and customer services Sebastian Lacson adding that while people have more disposal income, they tend to use their appliances, like air-conditioning more.

For the month of June alone, VECO registered a three percent growth of its sales per kilowatt hour, compared to the same period last year. For the first six months of 2009, the company incurred sales growth per-kilowatt-hour of five percent.

This growth, according to Lacson is a good indicator that people are now using more electricity in their homes, and that the company will be able to over-shoot its two percent growth target for this year.

Lacson said VECO’s growth driver for this year, is the residential users, although consumption from corporate clients are also increasing with the entry of more call center and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) companies, and new hotels.

However, this year, VECO noted a slight decline of some corporate clients’ consumption, specifically call centers, but this is offset by increasing consumption rate of residential costumers and entry of newly opened call centers.

In 2008, VECO the second largest power utility company in the Philippines registered a 5.5 percent kilo-watt per hour sales growth. This year, however, the company projected a slower growth anticipating the impact of the global economic crisis, said Arlo Angelo Gracia Sarmiento, vice president for Utility Economics Group.

Last year, the biggest contributor for its growth, is the call center and BPO companies. This year, Sarmiento said the company is expecting the residential consumers to drive the growth.

VECO is averaging to add at least a thousand new subscribers a month. To date, the company is supplying power to over 300 thousand power subscribers in its franchise area covering the cities of Cebu, Mandaue, Talisay and Naga and four municipalities in greater part of Metro Cebu—Liloan, Consolacion, Minglanilla and San Fernando.

Last year, VECO registered a total of P1.77 billion energy sales, operating in a capacity of 326 megawatts.