If these power supply issues persist, they could contribute to higher prices of goods and services, disrupt supply chains, discourage investments, and ultimately affect employment generation and economic growth in the region, according to Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI).
The Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) called for an immediate, coordinated response from the government, energy sector and private sector to address the current power situation while jointly developing a long-term energy strategy anchored in reliability, sustainability and affordability.
Energy summit
Gov. Pamela Baricuatro is planning to convene an energy summit on Oct. 7, bringing together representatives from government, business, the investment community and the energy sector to discuss Cebu’s energy future.
She also intends to meet with officials of the Department of Energy (DOE), National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), Visayan Electric, Cebu Electric Cooperative (Cebeco) and other energy stakeholders to identify gaps in Cebu’s power system and determine measures that could be implemented immediately and over the longer term.
The governor said the Capitol would continue to push for responsible energy investments that could provide both immediate and long-term solutions, stressing that the province’s plan to attract more investors would not be sustainable if power supply failed to keep pace with Cebu’s growth.
“I believe this is something that should have been addressed a long time ago. But we cannot keep looking back, and we certainly cannot allow the problem to continue. We have to deal with what is in front of us and make sure Cebu is better prepared moving forward,” she said in a statement on her Facebook page.
Longer brownouts
Yellow and red alerts have repeatedly been raised over the Visayas grid since May 12 due to insufficient power supply from generating companies.
Since Aug. 24, however, rotational brownouts have become a daily occurrence in Cebu, triggering complaints across all sectors.
On Sept. 3, Visayan Electric announced that potential brownouts in selected areas could last up to 2.5 hours between 10 a.m. and 11 p.m. due to high power demand.
The prolonged brownout coincided with the suspension of in-person classes, as local officials shifted students to asynchronous learning to protect them from the haze. The environment department had warned of poor air quality in Cebu due to smoke from massive wildfires in Kalimantan, Indonesia, carried toward the Philippines by the southwest monsoon.
Visayan Electric marketing and communications head Erik Monsanto said outages had to be increased to 2.5 hours on Thursday due to the worsening power shortage in the Visayas grid, caused by power plant outages and less available supply from the Mindanao grid.
“To manage this, we are rotating power distribution. These brownouts are necessary to ensure we can protect critical services like hospitals and essential utilities while distributing the remaining power as fairly as possible,” he told InsiderPH in a text message.
To help ease pressure on the grid, Monsanto said at least 14 establishments participated in the Interruptible Load Program (ILP) –mostly malls –while cement plants like Taiheyo Cement Philippines were doing manual deloading by using their own generators.
Under the ILP, large consumers—such as malls, factories and economic zones—temporarily stop or reduce their use of grid-supplied electricity and operate their own standby generators. This frees up electricity for households and other consumers, helping prevent or shorten rotational brownouts during yellow or red alerts.
Not enough power
Based on the advisory issued by the NGCP, red alert was issued between 1 p.m. and 10 p.m. and yellow alert from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. due to power shortfall of 388 megawatts (MW) in the Visayas grid as power demand stood at 2,575 MW, exceeding the available generating capacity of 2,187 MW.
NGCP said the power deficit was caused by outages of several power plants, including large coal plants like Therma Visayas Inc. 1 and Panay Energy Development Corp. Unit 3 and limited or unavailable power imports from Mindanao grid.
The transmission company maintained that the problem is a power generation issue as NGCP was ready and able to receive and transmit any available power supplied by and from the power plants.
In a statement, the MCCI said the current rotational brownouts in Cebu should be viewed as a “serious and growing concern” for the business community, particularly in Mandaue City, a major industrial and manufacturing hub in Cebu and the southern Philippines.
The outages not only threaten the safe operation of factory equipment and production facilities but also reduce productivity, increase operating costs and undermine business competitiveness, the chamber said.
Recommendations
To address the problem, the MCCI called for the accelerated implementation of transmission and grid infrastructure projects through closer coordination among the DOE, Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) and NGCP, particularly in the timely execution of the Transmission Development Plan.
It also urged the government to fast-track the development of new generating capacity by streamlining permitting and licensing procedures and encouraging greater investment in reliable and diversified energy sources. These measures, it said, would strengthen the Visayas power supply and ensure adequate reserves.
Revisiting coal moratorium
The CCCI, for its part, raised the possibility of reviewing the moratorium on new coal-fired power projects to ensure an adequate and reliable electricity supply while the country stabilizes the grid and builds sufficient renewable and other clean-energy capacity.
The CCCI stressed, however, that any reconsideration of the moratorium should be treated strictly as a temporary bridge toward energy security—not as a retreat from the country’s transition to renewable energy—while investments in cleaner technologies and sustainable power sources continue.
It reiterated that Cebu could not sustain its growth ambitions without a stable and competitively priced power supply, which is crucial not only to existing businesses but also to attracting new investments, expanding manufacturing, creating jobs and enabling micro, small and medium enterprises to grow. —-Ed: Corrie S. Narisma
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