To have cost-manageable electric bills during summer months, power utility giant Manila Electric Company (Meralco) has cautioned its customers about sudden spike in their power supply usage that could then bloat their overall spending as scorching weather strikes.

To avoid that, the company advised consumers to practice energy efficiency in their electricity usage; and to also ensure that their appliances would not be consuming added power while these are not in use.

Meralco First Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer Ferdinand O. Geluz indicated that there are easy-to-execute practices that consumers could resort to, so they can still manage or pare their monthly electric bills even when weather temperature rises.

“These simple everyday activities include cleaning your air con filters every two (2) weeks to ensure optimal performance,” he said; and such must be coupled with “setting your air con’s thermostat to 25 degrees C to maximize efficiency.”

Geluz emphasized it is also important that a consumer will choose an air-conditioning unit fitted to a room size, because this can help manage the usage as well as the resulting cost in the utilization of such appliance.

The other energy-conserving tips dangled by the Meralco executive include: making sure that the air vents of refrigerator units are not blocked; unplugging appliances when not in use to avoid phantom load; and using a power strip to make it easier and more convenient to turn off appliances simultaneously with just one flick on a switch.

The utility firm similarly noted that “maximizing natural light during daytime” could be an added energy saving tip – because this can help conserve electricity usage since some lighting systems at homes and offices can be turned off on these timeframes.

Meralco indicated this year’s summer supply will be relatively stable – given the fact that businesses are still not on their full operating mode, hence, there is still that dampened scale of consumption among industrial and commercial end-users.

It is worth noting though that since last year’s pummeling of the coronavirus pandemic, there had been manifest shift in demand growth in the residential segment because of the work-from-home arrangements as well as the online distance learning enforced for students.

Given such landscape change in energy utilization, Meralco encourages its customers “ to continue practicing energy efficiency initiatives at home to be ready in managing their consumption.”

Summer months are typically problematic for consumers in terms of managing their energy usage and subsequently in paying rising electric bills, hence, their power service providers keep on reminding them to use electricity efficiently and prudently.

“Historically, the summer season may bring an increase in residential electricity consumption by 10-percent to 40-percent versus average consumption during the cool months of January and February,” the power firm said.