Table of Contents
The Regional Development Council in Central Visayas (RDC-7) has called on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to declare a state of power emergency in Cebu and Bohol, following a recommendation from the Department of Energy (DOE).
The move would allow authorities to fast-track short-term measures to address recurring power shortages, speed up new and expanded generation projects, and prioritize critical transmission and substation upgrades by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).
Jennifer Bretaña, Central Visayas regional director of the Department of Economy, Planning and Development (DEPDev), said similar resolutions were expected from the regional development councils in Western and Eastern Visayas, potentially bringing the entire Visayas bloc behind a unified call for Marcos to declare a power emergency.
Recurring brownouts across the Visayas have raised concerns among local officials and businesses as plant outages, maintenance and reduced generation tighten supply. While some units have returned, reserves remain thin with other major plants still offline.
(Also read: Over Four Months in the Dark: Visayas Grows Frustrated Over Power Crisis)
Why Bohol Needs Its Own Baseload Power
Bohol has positioned itself as a coal-free province, with its Clean and Renewable Energy (RE) Code barring coal-fired and diesel power plants since 2018 and establishing mechanisms to promote renewable investment.
But Cebu Energy Rights Advocates (CERA) Nathaniel Chua said the policy “ignores the physical realities of the grid.” He also warned that the phaseout of conventional generation is also depleting baseload reserves across Cebu, Panay and Leyte, “pushing the interconnected Visayas grid to the brink.”
CERA is calling on local leaders in Negros and Bohol to reconsider their coal-plant bans, adding that continued dependence on external supply without enough 24/7 local generation could further strain critical submarine cables and raise the risk of a wider, more severe power crisis across the region.
“Demand for power is shared by one Visayas grid; therefore, the responsibility for the burden of baseload supply must also be shared,” declared Chua.
Meanwhile, Philstar columnist Bienvenido Oplas pointed out that the Visayas’ geography makes the power system particularly vulnerable to supply disruptions. When a major generating unit goes offline unexpectedly or enters prolonged maintenance, distribution utilities may have to source replacement electricity from other islands through NGCP’s limited interconnections. This can create congestion and drive up prices, particularly in power-deficit areas, where consumers ultimately bear higher costs.
“Each Visayas sub-grid (especially Negros, Bohol, Samar) should have more baseload facilities like new coal and gas plants on top of existing geothermal and old coal plants,” he wrote. “Dependence on power interconnection between islands should be minimized, nodal price differential can be minimized, help consumers avoid high line rental charge.”
Additionally, Chua noted that the longer-term answer lies in expanding local power capacity rather than relying primarily on short-term measures to manage recurring shortages.
Bohol’s Growing Economy & Power Demand
Bohol is facing a widening supply gap, with peak electricity demand already topping 100 megawatts (MW), far above the province’s 26 to 30 MW of dependable generation capacity within the island.
Bohol has traditionally depended heavily on electricity supplied through the wider Visayas grid, supplemented by local diesel, hydro and other generation. The 90-MW Leyte-Bohol interconnection was long a major source of supply, but rising demand eventually strained the link. The situation improved with the Cebu-Bohol Interconnection Project, energized in January 2025, which expanded Bohol’s access to the regional grid.
At the same time, Bohol is increasing its renewable capacity. The 45-MW Sikatuna Solar Power Plant broke ground in 2025, adding to the province’s growing solar portfolio. The provincial government has also made RE and energy security priorities for attracting investment and supporting development.
But more renewable capacity does not eliminate the need for dependable supply. Bohol’s own power-development plan has emphasized a system heavily reliant on baseload generation, underscoring the need for firm capacity alongside variable renewable sources.
Yet Bohol’s energy transition should not be confused with energy independence. The province remains interconnected with the wider Visayas system, and its local generation portfolio is still relatively small.
Even the province’s own power-development planning has historically emphasized the importance of firm supply: its Bohol Island Power Development Plan identified an optimal system consisting of 82% baseload and 18% peaking capacity, with 99.5% of the island’s energy requirement supplied by baseload generation.
However, Bohol appears to be moving in the opposite direction. In August 2025, the province held a four-day Renewable Energy Roadmap Workshop, which further reinforced Bohol’s focus on expanding renewables, even as its own power-development plan underscores the need for firm, dependable generation.
That push comes as Bohol’s economy continues to expand, increasing the need for reliable electricity. The province’s economy grew 3.9% in 2025 to ₱206.37 billion. Services account for about 73% of output, with tourism, trade, transport, and accommodation among the key drivers.
Tourism, in particular, continues to add to electricity demand. Bohol recorded 1.43 million tourist arrivals in 2025, up 4.18% from a year earlier, while foreign arrivals surged nearly 15%.New investments in tourism, retail and infrastructure are also expanding the province’s economic base, making dependable power increasingly important to sustaining its growth.
Cebu Shoulders the Burden of Reliable Power
CERA said Cebu is increasingly carrying part of the baseload burden for Negros and Bohol, arguing that supplying reliable, around-the-clock power should be a shared responsibility across the Visayas rather than falling disproportionately on Cebu.
Baseload from coal plants in Cebu and Panay, together with geothermal generation from Leyte, is helping cover supply gaps in neighboring provinces. But Chua warned that Cebu and Panay are increasingly running short of firm capacity themselves as demand rises, creating pressure to build additional coal plants to serve not only their own expanding economies but also the wider region.
Leyte and Samar may have ample geothermal resources today, but their fast-growing economies are expected to absorb more of that supply, leaving less available for the rest of the Visayas.
Panay’s peak demand is expected to reach about 600 MW by the end of 2026, compared with roughly 500 MW of dependable local supply. Cebu faces an even wider shortfall, with demand already above 1,000 MW against around 700 MW of in-island generation.
Both islands have new coal-fired projects in the pipeline. For now, Samar-Leyte remains the Visayas’ main net power exporter, producing about 700 MW—largely from geothermal plants—against peak demand of only around 310 MW. But as economic activity accelerates across the islands, that surplus is also expected to narrow.
(Also read: CERA Warns Coal Bans Put Visayas Power Security At Risk)
Bohol Cannot Afford To Repeat Its Power Crisis
Bohol’s green credentials may be growing, but its power system remains tied to coal-fired generation elsewhere in the Visayas. The latest disruptions should therefore be treated not simply as a temporary supply problem, but as a warning about the vulnerability of a province whose electricity demand continues to rise.
Bohol has faced this lesson before. In 2013, a magnitude 7.2 earthquake followed by Typhoon Haiyan damaged key transmission facilities and cut the province off from the main Visayas grid, triggering a month-long power outage. The crisis prompted the province to develop a long-term power plan built around a clear conclusion: reliable supply would require baseload generation. It even called for baseload contracting to be made a priority.
More than a decade later, that recommendation deserves another hard look. Bohol is adding renewable capacity, but solar and other variable sources cannot by themselves guarantee electricity around the clock. At the same time, the wider Visayas grid is already under strain, with Cebu and other provinces facing their own tightening supply margins. The call by regional officials for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to declare a power emergency underscores how serious the situation has become.
Bohol cannot afford to wait for the next major outage, typhoon or earthquake to expose the same weakness again. If the province wants to sustain tourism, investment, and economic growth, it must act before demand overtakes dependable supply. A greener power mix is worth pursuing—but so is the firm generation needed to keep the lights on when the grid is under pressure.
Sources:
https://insiderph.com/rdc-7-seeks-power-emergency-declaration-for-cebu-bohol
https://icsc.ngo/bohol-moves-to-diversify-power-supply-amid-rising-demand/
https://qa.philstar.com/business/2026/09/03/2553577/erc-nasecore-pumped-hydro-and-nuclear-power
https://boholinvest.bohol.gov.ph/infrastructure/
https://ppdo.bohol.gov.ph/plan-reports/development-plans/bohol-island-power-development-plan-bipdp/
https://rsso07.psa.gov.ph/content/bohols-economy-grows-39-percent-2025
https://psa.gov.ph/statistics/ppa/node/1684080940
https://pia.gov.ph/features/foreign-tourist-arrivals-boost-bohol-tourism-in-2025
https://boholinvest.bohol.gov.ph/2026/08/26/bib-reviews-investments-mapalad-power-updates