Amid recurring power outages: House probe sought

CEBU, Philippines — Cebu Third District Representative Karen Hope F. Garcia is seeking a congressional inquiry into the recurring power outages in the Visayas and their possible impact on electricity rates, amid reports that Cebu’s power rates could rise to nearly P19 per kilowatt-hour.

Garcia filed House Resolution 1439 on Wednesday, September 9, 2026, urging the House Committee on Energy to conduct an urgent inquiry into the power situation and summon officials from the Department of Energy (DOE), Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), and major generation and distribution utilities.

“Ni-move ta karon for an urgent House inquiry to establish the real situation behind the recurring power outages in the Visayas and evaluate their direct impact on power pricing,” Garcia wrote in a social media post yesterday, September 10.

She cited NGCP data showing that the Visayas Grid had recorded 94 yellow alerts and 31 red alerts, with additional alerts declared after the figures were recorded.

The continuing power interruptions have also raised concerns over electricity rates in Cebu, with recent reports indicating that rates could increase from around P11 to nearly P19 per kilowatt-hour.

Garcia said the proposed inquiry would determine the actual operational status of power plants in the Visayas and whether costs arising from system failures are being passed on to consumers through higher electricity bills.

“Gusto ta nga ang legislative inquiry will uncover the real operational status sa mga power plants, ug kung ang gasto sa ilang systems failures gipasa ba to consumers through inflated power bills,” the congresswoman said.

Garcia also questioned the possible impact of the projected increase on ordinary households.

“The public deserves complete transparency and accountability,” she said.

“Kung mao ning mosaka ang bayranan sa kuryente, sa ato pa, ordinary families are effectively being treated as a financial safety cushion for planning deficiencies and power supply breakdowns,” Garcia added.

Under the proposed inquiry, the DOE and other key stakeholders would be asked to present a detailed, unit-by-unit outage history of power plants in the Visayas Grid to determine whether reported breakdowns were caused by legitimate mechanical failures.

Garcia also wants the inquiry to examine DOE findings involving generation facilities, including whether show-cause orders or penalties were issued against operators found to be non-compliant.

The ERC, meanwhile, would be asked to look into measures that could protect consumers from a sudden increase in their electricity bills.

“Tan-awon pod nato kung ang Energy Regulatory Commission mosugot ba nga ang distribution utilities mo-apply og deferred recovery sa generation costs, o unsa pa nga other measures to protect consumers from sudden bill shock,” Garcia said.

Garcia said the inquiry is necessary to establish the causes of the continuing brownouts and determine who should bear the resulting costs.

“We need to establish the ground truth behind these blackouts,” she said.

Visayas Grid again placed under red alert yesterday, Sept. 10, from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m., with yellow alerts from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. and from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m.

NGCP said available capacity stood at 2,205 megawatts (MW), below the projected peak demand of 2,460 MW. Ten power plants were on forced outage this September, including four that had been unavailable since August. Other generating units were also operating at reduced or derated capacities.

Earlier, Cebu Electricity Rights Advocates (CERA) called for a congressional investigation, saying the recurring alerts pointed to broader problems in generation and transmission.

CERA lead convenor Nathaniel Chua called for a strict audit by the DOE and ERC to determine why major power plants repeatedly go offline and whether maintenance problems or other issues are contributing to the supply shortages.

Recent NGCP advisories have cited the unavailability of major coal-fired power plants, including Therma Visayas Inc. Unit 1 and Panay Energy Development Corp. Unit 3, as well as limited electricity imports from the Mindanao Grid.

CERA also raised concerns over limitations in the Luzon-Visayas interconnection, which it said could restrict the amount of additional power brought into the Visayas when local generation is insufficient.

Under NGCP rules, a yellow alert means the available operating margin is insufficient to meet the grid’s contingency requirement, while a red alert means available capacity is insufficient to meet both consumer demand and the grid’s regulating requirement.

Chua said the recurring alerts should no longer be treated as isolated incidents but as a continuing power-sector problem requiring investigation, accountability and long-term solutions.

“Cebuanos are paying a premium for electricity, and in return, we are given months of red alerts and excuses. We need full accountability from the power plants, and we need our transmission infrastructure reviewed and modernized immediately. Our economy and our daily lives can no longer afford these structural failures,” Chua added.- FPL (CEBU NEWS)