Meralco mulls supplying power to Batangas

THE Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) has expressed interest in providing electricity to the province of Batangas following a recent survey highlighting the province's electricity woes.

Meralco Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Ronnie Aperocho clarified, however, that they plan to take a different approach in offering their services as a distribution utility, suggesting the company could do it via a joint venture.

"Of course, we're interested. If Meralco could help improve the service in the entire province of Batangas, why not? In fact, we have received a request from the local government, even from the customers themselves," Aperocho said.

"However, we're looking [at] this [with] a different approach. It could be a joint venture or whatever. Of course, we need to coordinate, to align with the National Electrification Administration, or other concerned organizations regarding where we have to clear any agreement[s]. Whatever the modalities, we would need to abide by or comply with the prevailing regulations," he added.

Recent reports cited a new survey highlighting rising dissatisfaction among residents of Batangas over the electricity services provided by Batangas Electric Cooperatives 1 and 2 (Batelec 1 and Batelec 2), because of frequent outages.

According to the survey, 62 percent of respondents reported experiencing one to two power outages per month, with some residents reporting up to 10 outages monthly. The survey added that the outages were typically short but frequent, lasting between one and three hours.

The survey also revealed a difference in service reliability between Batelec 1 and Batelec 2, with 93 percent of Batelec 2 customers reporting frequent interruptions, compared with 81 percent of Batelec 1 customers reporting power losses.

Compared to the customers of these two electric cooperatives, residents in areas served by other utility providers reported significantly fewer disruptions, highlighting the difference in service quality within the province.

The survey was undertaken by Capstone-Intel Corp. in April 2025, and covered 1,200 residents across all 34 cities and municipalities of Batangas.

Meralco shares on Wednesday closed up by P1.00, or 0.18 percent, at P570 apiece.