Dear MERALCO

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Yesterday, we endured 12 hours of no electricity.

The BAD:

It was difficult trying to sleep in 33-degree temperature with no airconditioning or electric fans.

The only migraine trigger that still exists for me now is heat and (over) sun exposure. I was already feeling bad after a long shower and sitting in front of an electric fan, the power outage made it even worse.

It took Meralco 12 hours to restore service. It would have been understandable if it really was so difficult to address. What makes this response time unaccepatable is that:

  • It took Meralco six hours to get a team to inspect the transformer that got busted. Why did it take so long for them to get here?
  • After inspection, the team said that a boom truck would arrive shortly to change a fuse.
  • I don’t know what time the boom truck got to our street, but they were not prepared to do the repairs needed. Hindi daw sila na-inform na papalitan ang fuse. So they left to get the necessary tools/parts, and came back at midnight.

This really got me wondering about Meralco’s Service level targets. What guarantee do they give consumers when it comes to duration and frequency of power interruptions, response and restoration times? A quick Google search didn’t get me anywhere, except this 2009 Philippine Star article that has no specifics.

I also visited the Meralco website but could not find the information I was looking for. What I haven’t done is send an inquiry thru their Facebook or Contact Us Pages. That will be a Research activity I am saving for another time.

I recognize that we are better off compared to other areas – we don’t experience regular power interruptions, we have power when some areas still don’t. But, we still deserve better service. As consumers, we demand it.

Now, it wasn’t all bad during those 12 hours. There was also some good:

  • Spending time with this happy baby. Because it was too hot indoors, I went down to the common area to hangout with family. Bekah sure enjoyed all the attention she was getting 🙂

  • Halo-halo. No explanations needed.

How was your day?

9 of 100 done!