Central Visayas Council Seeks Power Emergency Declaration

The Regional Development Council in Central Visayas has formally sought a declaration of a state of power emergency from the Office of the President following months of tight electricity supplies, red and yellow grid alerts, and recurring rotational brownouts, cebudailynews.inquirer.net reported. The proposed emergency status is intended to fast-track generation projects and prioritize transmission upgrades across the region.

Regional Development Council Seeks Presidential Emergency Declaration

During its third-quarter full council meeting held on September 30, 2026, at Carcar City Hall and chaired by Cebu Governor Pamela Baricuatro, the Regional Development Council 7 passed a resolution urging the Department of Energy to recommend the emergency declaration to the Office of the President, according to statements from the Provincial Information Office cited by cebudailynews.inquirer.net and sunstar.com.ph. The council stated that an emergency status would allow authorities to act swiftly on immediate measures to ease power shortages and accelerate the construction of new or expanded power plants.

The declaration would also expedite priority transmission and substation projects managed by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines. reported that the Visayas grid recorded more than 120 yellow and red alerts between January and September 2026, driven by unavailable or derated generating units and limited power imports from Mindanao.

Municipal Appeals and Business Impact in Mandaue City

In Mandaue City, repeated power interruptions have prompted the city council to seek separate intervention from national energy agencies including the Department of Energy, Energy Regulatory Commission, and National Electrification Administration, manilatimes.net reported. City Councilor Jennifer Del Mar authored the resolution after receiving complaints from micro, small, and medium enterprises regarding production losses, canceled work shifts, and equipment damage.

The Mandaue City Council also requested the deployment of a technical task force to conduct an emergency audit of local power grids, substations, and distribution infrastructure to identify system bottlenecks. noted that solar generation accounts for nearly 35 percent of the Visayas electricity supply during daylight hours, but drops to zero at night while demand remains high.

Cebu Provincial Government Prepares Local Backup Infrastructure

Alongside appeals to the national government, the Cebu Provincial Government is advancing local contingencies to mitigate the impact of supply disruptions. The province is offering the installation of solar panels at barangay centers through its official menu of services, as noted by cebudailynews.inquirer.net.

Major Power Plants Return to Service by November

Addressing the council on September 30, 2026, Amado Otarra III of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines stated that only a 150-megawatt plant on Panay Island remained offline in the Visayas grid, according to cebudailynews.inquirer.net.

Grid officials expect several major facilities currently undergoing preventive maintenance to return to service by November, including the 169-megawatt Unit 1 of Therma Visayas Inc., a 103-megawatt unit of KEPCO SPC Power Corp. in Cebu, and the 150-megawatt Unit 3 of Panay Energy Development Corporation in Iloilo, as detailed by sunstar.com.ph and manilatimes.net. Despite these returning units, the Visayas grid maintains a relatively small operating margin, recording 2,607 megawatts of available capacity against a projected peak demand of 2,361 megawatts on October 4, 2026.

Cebu Energy Summit Convenes Stakeholders

The Cebu Energy Summit will bring together government officials, energy companies, business groups, and investors to address immediate regional power needs and evaluate long-term energy strategies.