Manila Electric Company (Meralco), the largest power distributor in the Philippines, says that it hopes to sign a deal with several prospective companies to boost its planned venture into power generation. Jose P de Jesus, Chief Operating Officer for Meralco, said the power companies in question included those that had acquired power plants previously owned by the state-run National Power Corporation. De Jesus said that depending on the outcome of the discussions, a possible agreement may be possible before 2011.
Meralco has formed a committee to validate and review all proposals made by the power generation companies for the planned partnership. For the long-term, Meralco is also looking into the prospect of building its own greenfield power plants as soon as possible. In particular, it has been looking at building a power plant in Luzon.
De Jesus stressed the need to have new power plants due to the growth of electricity demand in Luzon. He estimated that if no new facilities were built, Manila and some provinces in Luzon might experience power shortages by 2013.