Manila Electric Co. received the notice of award as the power distributor of New Clark City in Tarlac province, after offering the lowest power supply rate to state-run Bases Conversion Development Authority, an executive said Wednesday.
“We received notice of award. We’re going to comply with those conditions precedent so we can already sign the JV agreement,” Meralco senior vice president and head of customer retail services and corporate communication Al Panlilio said.
Meralco received the award on Jan. 18.
Panlilio said Meralco would sign the joint venture agreement, “but we have to submit other documents to the BCDA.”
“We’re compiling those, along with our consortium partners,” he said.
“Our commitment is to provide service in time for the SEA [Southeast Asian] Games,” he said. Clark is one of the venues of the 30th Southeast Asian Games that will be held in November and December this year.
Panlilio said BCDA required Meralco to have a substation ready to receive power.
“We’ll need to agree with BCDA which is the JV partner, what the forecasted load will be and then we’ll match the requirement based on the forecasted load. We have an initial forecast, but as a JV partner, we will need the agreement of BCDA on the forecast that we will adopt. We will discuss this first with BCDA,” he said.
Meralco, together with Japan’s Marubeni Corp., submitted the lowest power distribution rate for New Clark City at P0.6188 per kilowatt-hour.
“We are working ahead because we know the timelines are very tight,” Panlilio said.
Panlilio said Meralco should start construction by June to support the SEA Games.
He said Meralco’s offer was low because “our partners really wanted to win it.”
“It’s a good franchise to have… We know the development will happen, not immediately but in time. like BGC [Bonifacio Global City],” Panlilio said.
The Meralco-Marubeni consortium is composed of Meralco, Marubeni, Kansai Electric Power Co. Inc. and Chubu Electric Power Co. Inc.
The New Clark City, managed by BCDA, is envisioned to be the first smart, green and sustainable metropolis in the country where locators and residents will enjoy low utility rates.
BCDA earlier said New Clark City would have the first completely smart power grid in the country. Supported by state-of-the-art facilities comparable with other smart cities throughout the world, the New Clark City smart grid would also have better reliability standards.
Locators can enjoy access to real-time information from the distribution utility, allowing them to manage their electricity consumption more effectively.
Phase 1 of the New Clark City development includes the construction of the National Government Administrative Center and world-class sports facilities to be used for the Philippines’ hosting of the SEA Games.
Meralco, the country’s biggest power distributor has been looking for other opportunities in the distribution sector both locally and internationally. Meralco and partner ComsTech took over Pampanga Electric Cooperative II in 2014.
