Millions of consumers in Luzon and the Visayas endured a third straight day of rotating brownouts Friday as persistent power plant outages, transmission line failures, and soaring temperatures continued to strain the country’s power grid.
The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) placed the Luzon grid under red alert from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. and under yellow alert from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. and 10 p.m. to 11 p.m.
The Visayas grid was placed under red alert from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. and yellow alert from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Department of Energy (DOE) Undersecretary Mario Marasigan said the agency is hopeful supply conditions will normalize over the weekend as electricity demand typically declines on Saturdays and Sundays.
“Historically, demand is lower on weekends,” Marasigan said. “If so, even though EERI and Ilijan (power plants) have not fully returned, there will be no rotational brownout. Hopefully.”
DOE Undersecretary Rowena Guevara said the department was still awaiting the final operating status of power plants as of Friday night.
Rolling one-hour outages hit parts of Metro Manila and several areas in Luzon beginning Friday afternoon, while some areas in the Visayas faced interruptions lasting up to seven hours.
The NGCP said the outages stemmed from “major grid disruptions” affecting transmission lines, along with the maintenance shutdown and forced outage of several major power plants.
Available capacity in Luzon stood at 13,508 megawatts (MW), below peak demand of 13,881 MW, with 4,160 MW unavailable to the grid.
Sixteen power plants have been on forced outage since May, while several others have been offline since as early as 2019. Fourteen plants are also operating at derated capacities.
In the Visayas, available capacity reached 2,441 MW against peak demand of 2,661 MW. The NGCP said 11 power plants in the region have been on forced outage since May, resulting in 841.3 MW of unavailable capacity.
The NGCP said the Tayabas-Ilijan and Dasmariñas-Ilijan 500-kilovolt transmission lines were restored on May 13, but authorities were still awaiting the resynchronization of affected power plants to the grid.
The Department of Energy (DOE) said the tripping of the two transmission lines disconnected 2,462.1 MW of natural gas capacity from the Luzon grid, including the Ilijan gas plant and units of Excellent Energy Resources Inc.
Within minutes of the incident, Ilijan Blocks A and B and EERI Units 1, 2 and 3 were disconnected. Only EERI Unit 1 has so far returned to the grid.
The incident also disrupted power transfers from Luzon to the Visayas during a period of tight supply. Conditions further worsened after Masinloc Unit 3, with a capacity of 325 MW, went on forced outage.
A red alert is declared when available power supply is insufficient to meet demand and reserve requirements, while a yellow alert indicates reserves have fallen below contingency levels.
Energy Secretary Sharon Garin called on consumers to conserve electricity during peak hours.
“We urge everyone to conserve consumption, especially during peak hours this afternoon to evening,” Garin said.
“Simple steps like unplugging unused appliances, limiting air conditioning use, and avoiding simultaneous use of high consumption appliances will go a long way in helping to maintain a stable power supply,” she added.
The DOE and the Energy Regulatory Commission directed the NGCP to submit a comprehensive report on the red and yellow alerts declared from May 12 to May 14, including the causes of supply deficiencies, affected facilities, reserve levels, corrective measures, and restoration timelines.
“The public deserves a complete accounting of incidents of this magnitude,” Garin said.
“We will ensure that all operational, technical, and compliance dimensions are fully examined and that appropriate actions are taken where warranted,” she added.
The DOE said technical teams are independently verifying the condition of affected generating units and transmission facilities and assessing whether the NGCP and generation companies complied with dispatch instructions and restoration schedules.
The Philippine National Police (PNP), meanwhile, heightened security measures nationwide to deter crime during scheduled outages.
PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. said police commanders had been directed to intensify foot and mobile patrols in residential and commercial areas during nighttime brownouts.
“Darkness must not be an invitation for ‘akyat-bahay’ or street-level crimes. Our personnel are instructed to utilize high-visibility tactics, including the use of blinkers and searchlights, to let the community know that the police are present and vigilant even when the lights are out,” Nartatez said.
He added that Barangay Peacekeeping Action Teams would be mobilized to support local police units.
“The public can expect a heightened police presence at critical transit points and areas with high foot traffic. Our command centers and emergency hotlines, such as the Unified 911, will remain fully operational through back-up power systems to ensure that every call for help is answered without delay,” he said.
Business groups also raised concern over the economic impact of the prolonged outages.
The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) said the country’s first red alert this year left more than 200,000 businesses and households without electricity for an average of three hours.
PCCI president Perry Ferrer warned that continued power instability could further weaken economic growth and investor confidence.
“The looming power crisis in the Visayas is a wake-up call. Energy instability is not just a regional issue; it is a national economic risk. With growth already at 2.8 percent and inflation rising, prolonged brownouts will further weaken productivity, investor confidence, and household welfare,” Ferrer said.
The group urged the government and industry stakeholders to strengthen contingency planning, improve transparency during grid alerts, accelerate renewable energy investments, and address inefficiencies in power generation and distribution.
Jay Layug, executive board member of the Philippine Energy Research and Policy Institute, said the repeated alerts exposed vulnerabilities in the country’s energy system.
“As we scale up renewables, we need to calibrate our power systems to ensure a reliable baseload supply,” Layug said. —With Agence France Presse
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated. Originally posted with the headline “Luzon, Visayas face Day 3 of rotational brownouts.”
