The Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) is seeking potential suppliers for 260 megawatts (MW) of power supply to address the growing demand throughout the summer season.

In a statement, Meralco assured its customers that it is working with the Department of Energy (DOE) to provide sufficient supply to customers during the hottest months of the year.

"We are in constant coordination with the DOE in working to ensure the delivery of stable, reliable, and continuous electricity service to customers during the summer months," said Joe R. Zaldarriaga, Meralco vice president and head of corporate communications.

Last month, Meralco said that two bidders had withdrawn their expressions of interest in the 260 MW peak requirement, prompting the company to initiate a second round.

The two interested bidders, 1590 Energy Corp. (1590 EC) and San Roque Hydropower, Inc. of San Miguel Global Power Holdings Corp. (SMGP), did not proceed with submitting bids by the deadline on Feb. 26.

For the second round of competitive bidding on March 8, Meralco still did not receive any expressions of interest from potential bidders.

It also cited the recent addition of 400-megawatt baseload power supply procurement from the Limay thermal power plant, which will ensure the least cost supply for its customers once approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission.

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"Meralco also proactively obtained additional power supply via a series of competitive selection processes (CSPs) to meet the growing electricity demand of its customers. Recently, we secured an additional 400- megawatt interim power supply through a recently concluded CSP, subject to the approval of the Energy Regulatory Commission," Zaldarriaga added.

Under the bidding process, Limay Power Inc. submitted the lowest offer at P6.2708 per kilowatt-hour for a 400-MW baseload power supply until February next year.

The power firm said that it will augment the power supply in the critical dry months, allowing it to lessen its exposure to the wholesale electricity spot market when prices are highly volatile due to high demand and thin supply.

Further, Meralco also urged its large-load customers to participate in the government’s interruptible load program (ILP).

The ILP is an energy demand-side management program through which consumers are asked to use generator sets or reduce their operations, instead of drawing power from the grid, to spare households from power interruptions when supply is insufficient to meet the demand.

There are 105 companies enrolled in the ILP within the Meralco franchise, translating to 530 MW of total de-loading capacity, Meralco stated.

"We remain steadfast in our commitment to deliver continuous and stable power supply to our 7.8 million customers at the least cost possible," Zaldarriaga said.