With the departure of Manila Electric Company (Meralco) chief operating officer Jose P. de Jesus next week to join the Cabinet of the Aquino administration, Oscar S. Reyes who is also the company’s chief energy adviser, is reportedly replacing him in the post effective next month.

By next year, it was gathered that Reyes will be assuming even greater task at Meralco and will likely be taking the helm of the utility firm’s management. But formal announcements are expected to be done by management after June 30.

“Bigger changes will happen next year at Meralco,” a highly-placed source noted, stressing that the reign of the company’s new owners will manifest stronger by then.

Reyes is widely-regarded for his trailblazing achievement when he served as country chairman for Shell companies in the Philippines. His stint at the world’s second multinational oil giant also paved the way for the country’s discovery of its biggest gas field until this date, the Malampaya deep water gas-to-power project.

Incoming Meralco president and chief executive officer Manuel V. Pangilinan previously announced that Reyes will take a crucial role in assessing and planning the future investment path of the utility firm, chiefly with its aspiration to return into power generation.

Apart from Pangilinan and Reyes, the other key officers of the company installed during its last stockholders meeting are Manuel M. Lopez as chairman (non-executive), Ramon S. Ang as vice chairman, Betty C. Siy-Yap as chief finance officer, Rafael L. Andrada as treasurer and Simeon Ken R. Ferrer as corporate secretary.

After the Lopezes sold bulk of their shares in Meralco, Pangilinan’s group is now the clear majority interest-holder in the company; while San Miguel Corporation cornered the second biggest pie. First Philippines Holdings Corporation of the Lopezes is still in, but it is now holding on to only 6.7-percent shareholdings.

Meralco executives have hinted plans of renewed plunge into power generation, either through acquisition of existing facilities or ventures into greenfield capacity. The scale of investment and preference on technology are still being studied.