The Department of Energy (DOE) said Monday it is committed to weeding out non-performing service contracts and ensuring power plants are built on time to prevent damage to the country’s energy planning.
“We inform them why they are not moving forward, and if they cannot give us a valid reason, then we cancel their contract,” Energy Secretary Sharon Garin said on the sidelines of the opening of the National Energy Consciousness Month.
Garin said that while these projects do not involve government money, their failure to deliver “affects the country” and damages energy projections.
The agency is holding stakeholders accountable by investigating project delays or discontinuance and penalizing developers without valid excuses, she said.
“Because there are consequences when you don’t deliver the project. Our energy planning will be damaged, that’s already included in our projections,” Garin said, adding that the DOE wants credible and legitimate developers who view the service contract as a privilege.
The contract cancellation process is transparent and involves due process, including informing the developer and giving them a chance to explain, Garin said.
For 2026, the DOE has organized its work around seven priorities aimed at making the energy sector more reliable, modern and responsive to consumers’ needs.
Garin said the first priority focuses on improving industry goals, policies and practices to ensure every megawatt of renewable energy, every molecule of gas and every ton of coal is harnessed responsibly and efficiently.
The second priority is the creation of an Energy Excellence Center or Energy Museum, a solar laboratory, a hydrogen training and research center, and modern training facilities to foster innovation.
Third, the DOE is pushing for digitalization and integration across the department, aiming for significant strides in automation next year. This is expected to deliver faster, clearer and more transparent service for citizens and investors.
The fourth priority is improving DOE facilities and the fifth is deepening decentralization and convergence. This includes empowering field offices, setting region-specific goals and establishing command centers and mobile hotlines to bring the DOE closer to communities, especially where outages are felt first.
The sixth priority is reorganization and capacity-building to ensure the DOE evolves with the changing energy landscape.
Finally, the department is focusing on internal policies and accountability, with efforts to improve its public presence and media engagement so Filipinos are better informed about the state of the energy sector.
