Meralco looks into smart meter reading to avoid ‘bill shocks’

Amid complaints of high electricity bills in May, the Manila Electric Co. is looking at modernizing its metering system to avoid “bill shocks” and consumption estimations.

Customers of Meralco have complained of “unusually high” electricity bills this month. The power distributor has since explained that the May billing reflects the full impact of the enhanced community quarantine plus the adjustments from March and April.

The March and April bills were initially based on the average consumption from the previous three months prior to the ECQ because of suspended meter-reading activities.

To avoid a similar situation moving forward, Meralco first vice president and head of Customer Retail Services and Corporate Communications Victor Genuino said the use of “smart meter reading” will avoid estimations if physical reading is not possible.

“The solution to this po is technology. If we have smart readers in place hindi na tayo kailangan mag-estimate,” Genuino said.

“Hindi  na natin kailangan magpadala ng mga tao dahil makikita na natin via remote reading lahat ng konsumo ng bawat customers na nakabitan ng smart meters,” he said.

Meralco, however, did not provide a timeline when it can roll out smart meter readers across its franchise area.

“Learning ‘to sa Meralco, moving forward. If this will happen again, smart meter reading is the best defense to avoid a similar circumstance,” Genuino said. -MDM, GMA News