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The Cebu Electricity Rights Advocates (CERA) has urged authorities to declare a state of energy emergency in Cebu, citing critically low power reserves and an ongoing supply shortfall in the Visayas grid.
“Cebu is at breaking point,” warned CERA Lead Convenor Nathaniel Chua, lead convenor of the Cebu Electricity Rights Advocates, adding that although the national government has issued executive measures to manage power supply issues in the past, Cebu’s distinct industrial load and grid constraints call for a more focused, area-specific response.
Chua is also pushing for the creation of a Cebu Energy Task Force (CETF), a high-level body designed to align national energy policy with Cebu’s local grid realities. Acting as a coordination hub among the DOE, NGCP, utilities, and local stakeholders, it would prioritize proactive planning over reactive crisis response.
The CETF would oversee the maintenance and upgrading of aging power plants and transmission lines, while working closely with the NGCP to align transmission capacity with Cebu’s growing industrial demand and prevent grid congestion that can trigger outages.
It would also function as a one-stop coordination body to speed up approval of new, efficient baseload projects, cut through local permitting delays, prioritize power for critical services during emergencies, and craft a Cebu-specific energy master plan that promotes distributed energy resources to reduce reliance on a single transmission backbone.
Visayas has been under recurring yellow and red alerts since May, with the latest yellow alert declared on June 22 as tight supply continues to strain the system. The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) placed the Visayas grid on alert after over 900 megawatts (MW) of capacity went offline, leaving 2,579 MW available against a peak demand of 2,424 MW. A yellow alert indicates thin reserves, making the grid vulnerable to further disruptions if additional plants trip.
(Also read: DOE Eyes Battery Storage Boost As Key Visayas Power Plants Near Return)
Cebu City Withholds Energy Emergency Declaration
However, Mayor Nestor Archival said Cebu City will not immediately declare an energy crisis despite recurring power alerts, noting that he prefers to first assess whether relief measures can stabilize power reserves in the coming days.
“Dili pa karon [magdeklara og energy crisis] kay kuyawan ko within the next two or three days,” he said. (“Not at this time to declare an energy crisis, as I’m worried about what may unfold in the next two or three days.)
The mayor explained that Cebu City will review whether ongoing supply-boosting measures can stabilize the grid before considering exceptional steps.
Earlier, the Department of Energy (DOE) stated it is working to strengthen short-term power supply in the Visayas through a mix of short-term solutions, including at least 20 MW of battery storage, a 20-MW modular diesel facility, a 50-MW natural gas-fired barge, and a 70-MW bunker-fueled barge.
Cebu as a Key Growth Driver in the Visayas
Cebu continues to stand out as one of the country’s fastest-growing provincial economies, posting a GDP growth rate of 7.3%. This expansion, however, is driving a steady rise in electricity demand, which is already estimated at around 150 MW annually in Greater Cebu and is expected to climb further as industrial and commercial activity accelerates.
Despite its economic momentum, the island remains heavily reliant on external sources for its power needs. Data from the NGCP indicate that about 60% of Cebu’s electricity is imported from neighboring islands, including Luzon and Mindanao, leaving the province exposed to potential supply vulnerabilities.
At the same time, Cebu continues to dominate energy consumption in the Visayas, accounting for roughly 40 to 50% of the region’s total demand. Industry sources in both generation and transmission sectors warn that the island is already facing a supply shortfall, with projections indicating the need for at least 1,000 MW of additional capacity within the next two years to keep pace with growth.
Manila Times columnist Ben Kritz argues that genuine economic progress and the Philippines’ goal of achieving “middle-income” status will only be realized if productivity is broadened and spread more evenly across the country. As the nation’s second-largest urban center, he stressed that Cebu should serve as the starting point for this shift toward more geographically inclusive growth.
“Cebu needs to transform from being an ‘alternative’ to Mega Manila, to being a center of development, growth and excellence for its own sake,” he wrote. “And it needs to transform in a way that lifts the entire region along with it.”
Prolonged instability in the Visayas power grid is putting mounting pressure on small businesses, with micro, small and medium enterprises among the most affected. Frequent disruptions and rising retail electricity rates are straining operations and squeezing already thin margins.
Recurring power interruptions are disrupting daily productivity, halting customer service, affecting internet access, and spoiling perishable goods. Business leaders say small enterprises are especially vulnerable, as they lack the costly backup systems that larger corporations rely on to stay operational.
To manage ongoing grid instability, many businesses have turned to fuel-powered generators, sharply increasing operating costs. Others have reduced operating hours, adjusted staffing schedules, or temporarily shut down during outages. While some firms have considered solar energy through group purchasing schemes, high upfront costs continue to limit wider adoption.
“Our appeal is for immediate and long-term solutions to recurring power instability because MSMEs are among the most affected sectors,” stated Chairman Emeritus of the Filipino-Cebuano Business Club Reliable Rey Calooy. “Reliable electricity is essential for jobs, productivity and economic stability.”
(Also read: Tidal Energy Could Strengthen Philippine Energy Security, Ateneo Researchers Say)
Strengthening Cebu’s Energy Security
Cebu’s energy security could be partly strengthened by the continued expansion of grid interconnections across the Visayas. However, progress has been slowed by right-of-way disputes and delays in local permitting processes. Industry observers note that existing laws and regulations already provide mechanisms to resolve these bottlenecks, suggesting that stronger political will could help accelerate implementation and improve grid reliability in the near term.
For Chua, a longer-term fix lies in revisiting the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) of 2001 to mandate binding, time-bound modernization schedules for aging power plants. He said such reforms would help curb the growing incidence of unplanned and forced outages that continue to strain grid reliability.
While DOE Undersecretary Mario Marasigan acknowledged that the power alerts are partly due to several plants being on outage or operating at reduced capacity, he noted that these facilities are already due for scheduled maintenance. However, repairs were deferred because of urgent power needs in the Visayas, forcing some plants to run beyond ideal conditions. This has made timely maintenance unavoidable.
This event underscores the importance of coal plants in the Visayas. “Ang nagdidikta ng capacity natin sa Visayas ay ‘yung malalaki nating planta na conventional, ‘yung mga coal facilities. ‘Yun po talaga ang inaasahan natin. Marami po tayong solar, lalo na po sa Negros pero ‘yun ay available lang during daytime. Sa gabi naman po nangyayari ang ating yellow and red alerts,” he explained. (The capacity in the Visayas is largely determined by our big conventional plants, especially coal facilities. These are what we really rely on. We have many solar plants, especially in Negros, but they are only available during daytime. Yellow and red alerts usually occur at night.)
Grid alerts are being issued in the afternoon to evening hours, indicating that electricity supply remains sufficient during the day but begins to tighten as the sun goes down. This pattern highlights a structural limitation in the current energy mix, where solar generation can meet a significant share of demand under daylight conditions but quickly declines in the evening when consumption typically peaks. The timing of these alerts underscores the shortfall of solar as a standalone solution for evening peak demand, reinforcing the need for reliable and dispatchable power sources that can be quickly ramped up to maintain grid stability once solar output drops.
Furthermore, the Visayas power shortfall is not driven only by outages in conventional plants. Marasigan stated that biomass facilities are currently running at lower output due to the off-milling season and limited fuel supply. At the same time, hydropower generation has also weakened as summer conditions have reduced water levels across key reservoirs, further tightening supply in the region.
Against this backdrop, executives from Cebu-based infrastructure firm Vivant Corp. said the company is not limiting its focus to variable renewable energy sources. They noted it is also considering “conventional energies as well to help stabilize the grid.”
Kritz emphasized that depending on inter-island grid links alone will not resolve the broader power supply challenge. “Some new generation capacity is already in the works, such as the planned expansion of the Therma Visayas coal plant in Toledo, and the recent approval of an 80MW wind installation in Alegria, but much more is needed,” he wrote.
As power supply pressures persist, the lack of a clear, decisive intervention continues to raise concerns over grid stability in Cebu and the wider Visayas. The longer the situation stretches, the more its effects ripple across the economy, from disrupted business operations and reduced productivity to added strain on households already facing higher electricity costs.
Unreliable power also carries broader social consequences, affecting students’ ability to study, limiting access to digital services, and placing critical facilities such as hospitals and water systems under constant operational risk. For many stakeholders, the issue is no longer limited to technical shortfalls but has become a question of economic continuity and public welfare.
Without timely and coordinated action, recurring supply constraints could further erode confidence and slow down growth in one of the country’s most dynamic regional economies.
Sources:
https://business.inquirer.net/596724/yellow-alert-raised-anew-over-visayas-grid
https://mb.com.ph/2026/06/03/doe-visayas-re-surplus-fails-to-prevent-threat-of-rotating-brownouts
https://insiderph.com/groups-warn-of-looming-power-crisis-in-cebu-threatening-growth
https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/720889/cebus-growing-energy-gap-becomes-investor-risk-factor
https://www.manilatimes.net/2026/06/23/opinion/columns/not-all-smiles-and-sunshine-in-cebu/2370234
https://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/msmes-alarmed-by-visayas-grid-woes