Manila Electric Company (Meralco) has partnered with US-based Itron, Inc. to advance its smart grid modernization program, a key step toward a digital and sustainable energy future in the Philippines. Itron, a global leader in energy and water management, provides innovative smart networks, meters, sensors, and software to over 100 countries.
The collaboration forms part of Meralco’s Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) program, designed to create an intelligent, customer-centric energy system. Itron’s Gen5 solution integrates smart metering, distributed energy resources (DERs), electric vehicle integration, and enhanced outage management through an open, IPv6-based network combining mesh and cellular technologies. The rollout will initially cover 73,000 endpoints in Metro Manila, with plans to expand across Meralco’s franchise areas.
The partnership enables near real-time, two-way communication between Meralco operations and customer endpoints, improving outage detection and restoration, billing accuracy, and energy transparency.