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Twenty-nine electric cooperatives in Luzon and the Visayas have secured 15-year power supply agreements covering a combined 565.5 megawatts (MW) of baseload capacity, a move aimed at strengthening electricity reliability for households and businesses in their service areas.
The agreements were finalized through a joint competitive selection process facilitated by the National Electrification Administration (NEA), which said the contracts would provide up to 445 MW for 19 electric cooperatives in Luzon and 120.5 MW for 10 cooperatives in the Visayas.
Long-Term Supply Secured
The Luzon and Visayas Electric Cooperatives Aggregation (LVECA) pooled the baseload requirements of the participating cooperatives to negotiate with power generators as a single group.
The six generation companies tapped under the agreements are Sual Power Inc. and Malita Power Inc., both associated with San Miguel Global Power; Therma Luzon Inc. and Therma Visayas Inc. of Aboitiz Power; Palm Concepcion Power Corp.; and Energy Development Corp., a unit of the First Gen Group.
The aggregated procurement is intended to allow the cooperatives to secure a more stable supply while using their combined demand to improve purchasing terms.
The NEA Special Bids and Awards Committee executed the power supply agreements after the competitive selection process, with support from a technical working group.
The contracts are expected to take effect next year, although the agreements remain subject to approval by the Energy Regulatory Commission before commercial implementation.
Coverage Across Regions
The 19 Luzon cooperatives serve areas in provinces including Abra, Aurora, Batangas, Cagayan, Camarines Sur, Laguna, La Union, Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya, Pangasinan, Pampanga, Quezon, Quirino, Tarlac and Zambales.
Among the participating Luzon utilities are Batelec II, Quezelco I and II, and Tarelco I.
In the Visayas, the 10 cooperatives operate in Capiz, Cebu, Guimaras, Iloilo, Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental. Participating utilities include Capelco, Cebeco I and II, and Noceco.
NEA Administrator Antonio Mariano C. Almeda said the agreements were intended to help address operational gaps and reduce the risk of service disruptions.
“By securing this PSA, we mitigate the risk of service disruptions, giving our ECs a stable foundation to help address operational gaps and illuminate more households,” Almeda said.
The NEA said the scale of the procurement goes beyond the contracted capacity, noting that electricity services support households, businesses and essential social services.
Visayas Supply Under Pressure
The long-term supply agreements come as the Visayas continues to face tight electricity conditions and recurring power plant outages.
The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) placed the Visayas and Mindanao grids under red and yellow alerts on Wednesday as widespread power plant outages cut available supply amid high demand.
In the Visayas, a red alert was raised from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m., followed by a yellow alert from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. Peak demand was projected at 2,555 MW against available capacity of only 2,124 MW.
NGCP said 33 power plants in the region were on forced outage, while 13 others were operating at reduced capacity. The outages and deratings removed a combined 982.6 MW from the grid.
The Department of Energy has also been reviewing power facilities with repeated failures to determine the causes of outages and has warned that show-cause orders and other sanctions could be imposed on power operators found responsible for violations.
Five major power plants are expected to come online this month, which the government said should help stabilize electricity supply in the Visayas and Mindanao.
The LVECA agreements provide the participating cooperatives with a longer-term supply framework as authorities work to address recurring outages and expand available generation capacity.
Source:
https://bilyonaryo.com/2026/09/10/power-secured-29-electric-co-ops-lock-in-566-mw-for-15-years/power