Manila Electric Company (Meralco) aims to energize the around 2,000 to 3,000 households in its service area that are located in Department of Environment and Natural Resources-protected sites starting in 2026.

In an interview Thursday, Meralco chief revenue officer Ferdinand Geluz said they cannot put up power lines in protected areas such as those in Tanay, Rizal and Mauban, Quezon, the usual mode to connect customers to the power grid.

“But we already have a proposed solution, which is the solar home system. We have filed it with the ERC (Energy Regulatory Commission) and once approved, the plan is to install solar battery system per household,” he told the Philippine News Agency.

Geluz said the customers will be given a fixed rate, not based on monthly consumption, since usage will depend on the capacity of the solar batteries.

He said the system works on a plug-and-play mode, with the solar panels to be installed on the households’ roofs.

The project amounts to around P143 million, with the number of projected beneficiaries based on the 2020 census.

The average consumption of these households is placed around 20 to 30 kilowatts (kw) per month.

“Implementation is probably, at the earliest, next year,” he said.

The Meralco official said funding for the program has been included in the company’s capital expenditures, but the company cannot procure the needed materials pending the ERC approval.

Amidst having households in its service area that remain to have no power, Geluz said the power distribution company has one of the highest electrification rate in the country at 99.97 percent.

MERALCO PHOTO