Manuel V. Pangilinan-led Manila Electric Company (Meralco) went technology shopping in the US, and came home with more than just ideas.
The Philippines’ largest power distributor joined the US-Philippines Smart Grid Technologies Reverse Trade Mission organized by the US Trade and Development Agency from February 1 to 11, plugging into a dense circuit of tech firms, cybersecurity specialists, regulators and policymakers. The agenda: pressure-test the tools and rules that could define the next generation of electricity networks.
Meralco executives Ronnie L. Aperocho and Froilan J. Savet were part of the delegation that made stops in San Diego, Silicon Valley and Washington, DC. Along the way, they attended DistribuTECH International—a global showcase of grid innovations—and toured the Stanford Central Energy Facility, where integrated energy systems run with data-driven precision.
Behind the site visits lies a serious capital program back home. Meralco is rolling out an Advanced Metering Infrastructure targeting roughly 12 million smart meters over the next decade. The investment is designed to deliver near real-time consumption data, sharpen outage response and give customers clearer visibility into their power use.
That data layer will anchor a planned Grid-Edge Operations and Control Center and a Distributed Energy Resources Management System, platforms aimed at orchestrating rooftop solar, demand response and other distributed assets with far tighter control.
The subtext is strategic. As renewables and electrification scramble traditional load patterns, utilities face a choice: digitize or destabilize.
By courting US technology partners and studying regulatory playbooks, Meralco is signaling it intends to stay ahead of the curve—hardening its grid, unlocking efficiencies and positioning itself for a more decentralized, data-heavy power future.
