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The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) placed the Visayas grid under a yellow alert on May 27, marking its 15th consecutive alert this month. The Visayas grid has been on yellow alert for three straight days in a third consecutive week, as power reserves remain insufficient to fully ensure uninterrupted electricity service throughout the day.
A yellow alert is issued when the electricity supply is barely enough to meet demand while maintaining the grid’s standby reserves. To avoid larger system failures and stabilize the network, rotating power interruptions may be carried out in certain areas.
The grid currently has an available capacity of 2,682 megawatts (MW), with peak demand already approaching 2,415 MW. Electricity consumption is also expected to increase further during the hot and dry season.
According to the NGCP, the yellow alert was triggered by forced outages and reduced output from several power plants, including the unavailability of major coal facilities in the Visayas, amid rising electricity demand.
Meanwhile, Vivant Energy President and Chief Operating Officer Emil Andre Garcia said recurring yellow alerts underscore the need for greater investment across the entire energy value chain, including new generation capacity, stronger transmission systems, and improved grid stability facilities.
“A lot of our plants are already aging,” he stated. “Many of our baseload power plants are getting old, so we still need more investments in the power sector to sustain growth.”
(Also read: Visayas Power Instability Deepens Pressure on MSMEs)
Baseload Power Urgently Needed
During a congressional hearing on the May 13 to 15 power alerts in Luzon and Visayas, NGCP President and CEO Anthony Almeda stressed the need for a comprehensive long-term energy plan centered on adequate baseload capacity, a diversified energy mix, and stronger resource adequacy planning to address recurring power issues.
Baseload capacity is the steady, round-the-clock supply of electricity needed to keep the grid operating, typically provided by sources such as coal and geothermal, and serves as the backbone of a stable and reliable power system.
“These factors, in our view, highlight one thing: we need more baseload supply. Otherwise, red alerts will continue to be a regular occurrence,” explained Almeda. “The incoming solar capacity is a welcome addition to our pool of energy sources. But, as the sun begins to set, and solar power harvest starts waning, the system again loses much-needed capacity.
He added that the red alerts triggered by NGCP’s transmission tripping incident started in the mid-afternoon and continued until midnight, a period when solar generation was no longer available.
Additionally, Almeda stressed most red alerts issued by NGCP stemmed from generation shortfalls rather than grid failures. He added that these issues, along with the Visayas grid’s reliance on power from Luzon and Mindanao, must be resolved to strengthen the overall power supply system.
During the hearing, Cagayan de Oro 2nd District Rep. Rufus Rodriguez agreed that the main concern in the power sector is supply adequacy, not transmission. “Hanggang ngayon, may yellow alert pa rin sa Visayas kasi maraming planta ang naka-out (There are still yellow alerts in the Visayas because several plants are offline),” he said, noting that supply-side constraints continue to affect grid operations even after transmission systems were restored.
Murang Kuryente Party-list Rep. Arthur Yap echoed the same point, saying, “Real issue is supply and demand. Kung sobra ang supply, bakit may rotating brownouts?” (Why are there rotating brownouts if supply is more than enough?)
Furthermore, historical grid data cited during the hearing showed that from 2016 to 2025,235 out of 243 red alerts, or 96.7%, were linked to generation-related issues rather than transmission failures.
Is Renewable Energy (RE) More Reliable?
Manila Times columnist Ben Kritz wrote about how the recent power supply emergencies in Luzon and Visayas have been used by climate advocates to argue that RE is more reliable than conventional sources, particularly coal.
Groups such as the Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ) attributed recent Visayas shortages to multiple coal plant outages, and used the incident to question planned coal expansion while calling for a faster shift to renewables with storage and climate framing linked to rising global temperatures and El Niño risks.
“However, attributing the failure to that alone in order to advance the ‘RE is more reliable than dirty and unreliable coal power’ is, at best, cherry-picking facts,” wrote Kritz, explaining that plant outages are not unusual and often reflect maintenance or grid management needs rather than structural failure of coal generation.
“What RE power is already available undoubtedly helped to ameliorate the crisis, but at the level of development of RE generation in the country now, it would not be useful for recovery from a partial blackout caused by a grid fault, primarily because it is difficult to synchronize to the grid, and has little ‘grid-forming’ capability,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, BusinessWorld columnist Bienvenido Oplas noted that coal-fired power plants have helped support inflation management by supplying stable and competitively priced electricity, particularly during periods of tight power reserves.
While renewables are important for lowering costs over time, they are variable since output depends on weather and time of day. Because of this, solar and wind must be backed by baseload power and grid support systems like reserves and fast storage to keep supply stable and prevent outages and price spikes.
Despite these facts, Myrna Velasco of the Manila Bulletin highlighted that DOE planning is still heavily focused on scaling up variable RE through green energy auctions (GEA), even though industry groups continue to warn that baseload capacity is being underprioritized.
She added that although nuclear is being developed as a future replacement for coal in the baseload mix, it will still take 10 to 15 years to materialize, meaning current supply gaps cannot be solved by long-term solutions alone.
“At this stage of grid unreliability, the DOE’s challenge is clear: secure firm baseload capacities and expand energy storage deployments if variable renewables are to be scaled aggressively without destabilizing the power system,” she declared.
Pangasinan 2nd District Rep. Mark Cojuangco also criticized the government’s energy direction for relying heavily on renewables without adequate baseload support, questioning solar’s ability to meet evening demand and noting the limits of current battery storage. He argued that wind and solar are being oversold as complete solutions.
“If we push this without sufficient baseload and reliable generation, this will be a disaster waiting to happen,” he asserted.
(Also read: Are We Overestimating Climate Risk? Scientists Reassess Key Emissions Pathways)
Visayas Needs Its Own Power Now
The Visayas, which is highly vulnerable to earthquakes and super typhoons, continues to face power supply challenges despite the long-standing call for stronger baseload capacity. But unlike natural disasters that cannot be predicted, this is a recurring and preventable issue. The failure to act has only prolonged the risks to consumers, making urgent corrective measures necessary.
Earlier this year, the DOE already flagged a possible critical supply situation in the Visayas by 2026, which unsettled manufacturers and exporters in Cebu. Business leaders said recurring yellow alerts and load-sharing measures were already raising costs and disrupting operations, warning that without new baseload plants, Cebu’s economic growth could be at risk.
Back then, the Cebu Electricity Rights Advocates (CERA) called for the immediate development of island-based baseload plants to cut reliance on inter-island connections and recommended dedicated backup lines for water pumping stations to maintain a steady water supply for fire protection. It also urged the DOE and utilities to release a clear, transparent plan to prevent projected 2026 supply gaps from escalating into prolonged blackouts.
Despite these appeals, they remain largely unaddressed, as the government continues to expand intermittent renewable capacity in the Visayas, a region that still requires stable and affordable baseload power.
The Visayas, critics say, does not need an energy “culture war” between renewables and conventional baseload. Instead, it needs a balanced mix: reliable baseload to keep supply steady and costs predictable, renewables to gradually lower long-term prices, and stronger inter-island connections to cushion supply shocks—protecting households from unpredictable bills, small businesses from sudden shutdowns, and investors from a system that falters when it is needed most.
Sources:
https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/730826/more-investments-needed-for-ph-energy-sector-biz-exec
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/2234978/ngcp-clarifies-we-can-only-transmit-power-if-its-available
https://mb.com.ph/2026/05/26/rodriguez-refuses-to-blame-ngcp-for-rotating-brownouts-heres-why
https://mb.com.ph/2026/05/26/simple-math-yap-says-no-rotating-brownouts-if-theres-ample-power
https://mb.com.ph/2026/05/18/blame-game-on-blackouts-whos-really-at-fault
https://manilastandard.net/news/314744943/solons-hit-doe-over-power-cuts.html
https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/730826/more-investments-needed-for-ph-energy-sector-biz-exec