HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRIPEVINE: OUR NEW ABNORMAL
Think about it, one of the enduring post-paid, ‘on-credit’ elements we still enjoy in our lives is our electricity bill. Here in Metro Manila at least, it remains an essential service we can avail of, and pay for, after it’s been utilized and consumed. In most other aspects of our life now, as we’ve shifted to cashless and contactless, the truth of the matter is these services are often availed of in a ‘pre-pay’ mode. These thoughts ran through my mind as I was attending to my condo’s electricity bill the other day - and I noticed how Meralco’s bill had undergone a ‘makeover’.
As I checked on Meralco’s Powerclub website, I discovered that this new format had been introduced this month of October. And in the words of Ferdinand Geluz, first vice-president for Customer Retail Services and chief commercial officer, “The new and improved Meralco bill is clearer, and gives more power to customers, providing them a better understanding of their bill so they can better manage their consumption.” In effect, I loved how it was giving more knowledge and power to their customers, in both the Residential and Business sectors.
Mr. Geluz went on to say that, “Meralco conducted research, and banked on Consumer Feedback to provide a bill format that we hope provides complete information that encourages energy efficiency.” What this translates to in my mind, is that as a consumer and/or business customer, the new bill format is meant to enhance the bill’s readability, and offering me the opportunity to be better informed and smarter about my usage; and thus, save on electricity costs.
Without a doubt, given the prevailing situation, and how we're not ‘out of the woods’ yet when it comes to the COVID pandemic; this is something all Meralco customers would welcome. What it does entail is understanding how the format will help us achieve this, and recognizing the small amount of computing and evaluating we have to do, in order to maximize the information that’s now at our fingertips.
A sample of the new Meralco bill, with a format that was introduced in October. (From their Powerclub website)
First off, Meralco recognized how about 50% of those who transact with the Meralco Business Center are household heads aged 45 and above, with children. Presbyopia, with is the gradual loss of your eye’s ability to see things clearly up close, sets in from the age of 40. This means that the smaller font on the pre-October format, had bill readers just skimming the information or having to reach for their spectacles in order to read the bill fully. So to improve readability, the page was upsized to 8” x 11”, an increase of three inches, and there’s now a corresponding increase in font size for all the information on the bill.
The most important information has even been put in a sky-blue box that’s found on the upper right corner of the bill - here you’ll find the total amount due, the due date, and your 10-digit Customer Account Number (CAN). There’s also a new ‘Your Rate this Month’ section, as this can change every month, and it helps us appreciate what our effective peso per kilowatt-hour (kWh) rate is for that month.
The ‘Your Monthly Consumption’ table now covers 24 months (in previous bill, it was 13 months). This allows us to see the trending of power usage and rates, plus allow us to compare consumption with the same month last year, and even two years ago. This should all lead to better control over consumption and related spending. And at the back of the bill, we can find breakdown of our last six payment transactions - solving the old problem of rummaging through piles of bills for what we paid a month ago, or four months ago.
As sustainability is also a foundation to the Meralco business of today, our bill will also have an info box highlighting the environmental impact of our power usage - the equivalent amount of greenhouse gas emissions. It’s hoped this can inspire us to be more responsible with our energy use.
For Business customers, Meralco has similarly made improvements on the bill format - this one aimed at helping business owners with their efficiency efforts or initiatives. For example, if your business is qualified to shift to the contestable market, one can leverage the load factor when negotiating with Retail Electricity Suppliers for competitive rates, and use the Meralco bill as proof of contestability. A business can also chart its actual demand against minimum billing demand - letting one know if one is optimizing one's electrical facilities.
It’s all about service with compassion - and given the unprecedented number of installment plans that have been allowed over the last year and a half; the new bill format is still another step of Meralco empowering us, the consumers - to better understand what we can do, to make our electricity consumption more efficient.