‘Prepaid power’ – in more ways than one

IT is always a delight seeing how easy it is to travel to other countries. If you visit some highly urbanized cities in the United States, or even Hong Kong, you can see their citizens using prepaid tap-and-go smartcards for their public transportation throughout the city.

These prepaid cards take care of many modes of public transportation, whether it is the underground system you want to use to your office, or if you would rather ride the bus to head on over to the nearest shopping district.

What makes these prepaid cards even more revolutionary is that they can even be used in some cafes around the terminal shops or the underground metro. Meaning, you do not have to worry about breaking your bills to pay for your morning coffee.

All these are examples of how life is made so much easier by prepaid technology. And that is just in the transportation aspect. We here in the Philippines can take a lesson or two from these neighboring countries. We can apply the prepaid technology to more than just our mobile phones. (Although, to some limited extent the e-pass in our superhighway toll gates and MRT-LRT has been in use a few years back.)

Recently, I was delighted to read about Meralco’s prepaid electricity service, called Kuryente Load. The distribution utility firm announced that over 42,000 franchise customers are now currently enjoying the benefits of Kuryente Load (“KLoad”), Meralco’s prepaid electricity service. These customers come from all backgrounds.

There are lessor-lessee accounts, condo units, and your typical residential customers who all enjoy the benefits of using prepaid electricity.

Just like how some American cities and Hong Kong prepaid smartcards ease your transportation around the city, Kuryente Load is an easy and affordable way for us to monitor electricity consumption. You can keep track of your consumption through mobile phone SMS notifications and better manage your electricity expenses. The budget-friendly load denominations are very convenient for the consumers, as they can go for as low as 1100.

Now, while it has yet to reach the full extent of Meralco’s franchise area, it is only a matter of time before all of us can get the chance to register to the service. I read in the papers that Meralco has announced that it is ready to accept an additional 100,000 prepaid customers, and that is music to my ears.

Aside from Manila, Pasig, and parts of Rizal, KLoad is now also available in Mandaluyong, and coming soon to Makati. So if you are a resident there, you may already want to inquire with your nearest business center. And by the end of 2017, Meralco plans to bring KLoad to Quezon City, Caloocan, San Juan, Marikina, Pateros, Taguig, and Pasay.

From what I have seen on TV, read in the papers, and from my own research, Meralco has claimed that we, as prepaid electricity consumers, can save an average of 20% on electricity consumption. This translates to total savings of around 1300 per customer for an average user. For a typical household, that is a big relief indeed! That can be savings better used for food, appliances, or even education for your children and grandchildren.

Speaking of education, Meralco’s prepaid service is designed for all customer types, from budget conscious mothers, to lessors who want freedom from collection risk, and even to students, young professionals and young families residing in condos.

Speaking as a grandfather, I would want my grandchildren to have the most convenient and easiest lifestyle when they enter college or become young up-and-coming professionals.

Back in my time, it was difficult to find your own place when I was studying in University of Santo Tomas, mainly because of the costs. But that is a problem made easier to solve today by prepaid electricity.

As there is no longer any need for residents to wait for bills or settle accounts, even “condormitels,” a term that even I had to learn from the younger generation, are now using prepaid electricity to provide more convenient and manageable service to its occupants. Buildings near various universities now act as condominiums, dormitories and hotels all rolled into one, catering to 2 to 4 students per unit.

Students using prepaid electricity can now better divide and schedule their respective contributions to the electricity bill in an alternating scheme with ease. Through prepaid electricity, students also become more conscious of their electricity consumption, and eventually begin practicing energy efficiency in their daily lives. This is definitely something my grandchildren can use when they begin their collegiate lives.

Now I can say that prepaid electricity is a step in the right direction.

Meralco may be right… there may be a brighter tomorrow for us all, especially with this new prepaid electricity service.