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- EDD K. USMAN | Twitter: @edd1819 | Instagram: @bluestar0910 |Facebook: SDN – SciTech and Digital News
PASIG CITY, October 30, 2024 (SDN) — Manila Electric Company (Mercalco) Vice President for Corporate Communications and Spokesman Joe Zaldarriaga today, Wednesday, tells journalists the country’s biggest energy company now counts over eight million registered customers.
Zaldarriaga, who himself is a media man then and now, graced as special guest the Kapihan sa Metro East Media Forum here, fielding various questions on issues and concerns on its millions of consumers and what the Meralco is doing to provide efficient, effective and fair services to everyone in its franchise and electrified areas.
Its many services include restoring power to thousands of its customers whose connections are cut off every time calamities occur induced by weather disturbances, the latest of which is Severe Tropical Storm Kristine, which affected more than half a million energy consumers.
Zaldarriaga said Meralco’s army of linemen have already restored power to 500,000 customers in the areas hit by Severe Tropical Storm Kristine (international name: Trami)
“As of today, actually during the weekend, we have completed the work. We have completed the work on areas whose power were cut off during the onslaught of Typhoon Kristine,” the Meralco official reveals.
If there are customers who may think that services for restoring energy services, including those caused by typhoons and other natural disasters, would entail additional costs to them, he allays this concern.
No such thing
Meralco does not transfer even a peso of the cost of restoring power to its customers because it is already built-in with the power company’s operating expenses, he assures. He emphasizes this as he acknowledges concerns that damage to the company’s infrastructure arising from Typhoon Kristine might be charged to its customers.
It can be recalled that Zaldarriaga reported on Thursday, October 24, that the weather disturbance affected 535,000 customers in its franchise areas, as they experienced power outages and other power interruptions. Quick response by Meralco soon restored powered to many, until this weekend electricity restoration was complete, he said.
The Meralco official says the company is on its feet and is always ready to do its work restoring power every time work is needed. On the other hand, he stresses that power restoration comes with first ensuring the work areas are safe for the company’s workers.
“We cannot compromise the safety (of our workers),” he points out, saying that before restoration is conducted, they have to make sure that workers are not at risk of being electrocuted, especially if there’s still flooding in the affected franchise areas of Meralco.
He sends a message to its millions of power consumers of prompt action during times of power interruptions.
“With Meralco, expect that when crisis happens because of weather conditions, as you know we are often visited by typhoons and flooding, so with us we make sure that our resilience level is adequate, and we are able to withstand the pressure from inclement weather and conditions in the country,” assures Zaldarriaga.
“This latest incident where over half a million was affected, in four days we were able to, somehow, restore power back to normal to most of the affected areas, and we will continue to strengthen our distribution backbone and we will continue to ensure that we are able to respond during emergency situations,” he adds.
He says this always-ready mode applies to the coming Holy Week, saying, “we are ready to respond to the Filipinos’ important events, including Christmas, New Year, Holy Week, and others.
Thus, in times of Filipinos’ milestones such as the events he cited above, Meralco is ever vigilant in monitoring them to make sure that every incident would be appropriately responded to and addressed, and no incident that affect consumers’ electricity need is left unresolved. (/)
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To be updated.