Meralco commissions new Laguna switching station


Manuel V. Pangilinan-led Manila Electric Company has put up a new switching station for a data center in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.

Meralco’s new infrastructure will support the power needs of VITRO Inc.'s AI-powered hyper-scale data center. VITRO is a subsidiary of ePLDT and the data center arm of the PLDT group which is also led by Pangilinan.

The newly commissioned station, with a 115-kilovolt (kV) capacity, will enable Meralco to adequately serve its first data center, which will have an ultimate power demand of 50 megawatts (MW).

Victor Genuino, ePLDT and VITRO president and chief executive officer said that the firm’s partnership with Meralco is a strategic move to construct modern facilities.

“VITRO Sta. Rosa is not just another data center—it’s a facility designed to welcome hyperscalers and accelerate the country’s adoption of AI… The digital infrastructure we are building directly supports the country’s modernization and progress, impacting industries like telco, finance, healthcare, manufacturing, and government services to name a few,” he said.

Ronnie Aperocho, Meralco’s executive vice president and chief operating officer expressed his support for the partnership which would ensure that the infrastructure would meet the demands of technology and data-driven industries.

“The switching station design incorporates redundancy features, which guarantees our customer’s data center can maintain uninterrupted services – critical in an industry where even a brief outage can have significant and far-reaching consequences,” he said.

“This also aligns well with our continued commitment to support nation-building efforts towards the country’s sustainable economic development,” he added.

Meralco has assured its commitment to provide VITRO with redundant and reliable power infrastructure that would help it achieve its energy needs, while also adhering to the government’s position to boost the hyper-scale industry, especially with the growth of data centers in the country.