Meralco Powers The 'Good Life'

Meralco is “powering the good life,” a sustainability mantra that the company is pursuing that ranges from greening its network to energizing poor communities off the grid and creating awareness within the confines of the corporation and beyond.

Photo Insert: Launched three years ago, the sustainability program embraces the use of e-vehicles for its employees for its “Green Mobility” thrust, projects a zero waste timetable within the company, envisions the planting of up to 5 million trees, and undertakes the installation of environment-friendly transformers.

Meralco Chief Sustainability Officer Raymond Ravelo, also head of Strategy Development, unveiled the company’s program that dovetails with nine of the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals during an interview in the “In the Heart of Business” episode at DWIZ today (Thursday) where he ticked off the projects meant to power the good life.

Launched three years ago, the sustainability program embraces the use of e-vehicles for its employees for its “Green Mobility” thrust, projects a zero waste timetable within the company, envisions the planting of up to 5 million trees, and undertakes the installation of environment-friendly transformers.

“There has been a positive response from our employees for the sustainability program,” Ravelo said, adding that many of them, having internalized the concepts, have offered suggestions that Meralco can pursue for the nation.

The suggestions come in handy especially in the enviable program to achieve zero waste for the company. Ravelo said that last year the program “repurposed and recycled” the amount of waste to 85 percent, up from 17 percent when the policy was implemented.

Another noteworthy program that Meralco is pursuing involves the “move to clean energy,” he said, where generating capacity from renewable energy such as solar, water, and wind is pursued earnestly with a target of having 1,500 megawatts in eight years.

Ravelo, a Wharton alumnus, said that residents can even put up solar panels on their roofs, power their energy needs and even sell the extra watts that they produce to the Meralco grid.

“We are pioneering the next good life,” he said.

To achieve its greenhouse emission targets, Meralco is now installing mineral oil-powered Esper transformers and will soon introduce smart meters while championing the use of electric vehicles.

“All of these efforts,” Ravelo said, are “meant to benefit our children, and our children’s children, echoing a buzzword from another Meralco official that “a seed does not see its flowers.”

WEEKLY FEATURE : MVP Group Keeps Lights On During Pandemic