Energy Secretary Sharon Garin warned at Energy Summit 2026 that power supply shortages in the Visayas will persist through 2027 until new generation projects open in 2028.
Regional electricity demand surged 106 percent since 2009 to 2,779 megawatts in 2026, triggering red alerts driven by forced outages, reduced output, and transmission constraints.
To bridge the gap, the Department of Energy is planning temporary power barges and battery energy storage systems while urging NGCP to accelerate grid connection assessments.
THE Visayas region will likely continue to experience electricity supply shortages through 2027 as the government scrambles to find temporary power sources to bridge the gap before new generation plants begin operating in 2028.
Energy Secretary Sharon Garin outlined the tight supply situation at the Energy Summit 2026 in Cebu on Monday, Oct. 12, 2026, noting that several planned generation projects will not be completed soon enough to meet the region’s rapidly growing demand.
“Andiyan na, parating ’yung solusyon, pero late na siya, it will be a 2028 (The solution is coming, but it will be late; it will be in 2028),” Garin said.
The delay means the region must navigate at least another year of precarious power reserves. This bottleneck is the result of electricity demand drastically outpacing the construction of new power plants. Since 2019, new generating capacity in the Visayas has largely stagnated.
Meanwhile, consumption has surged. Electricity demand in the region jumped by 106 percent, rising from about 1,241 megawatts in 2009 to 2,779 megawatts in 2026, according to Emelindo Bugaoisan Jr., an official with the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP). Cebu alone accounts for 42 percent of this demand, followed by Panay at 21 percent, Negros at 18 percent, and Bohol at 13 percent.
This growing imbalance has already triggered widespread supply issues. In May, the grid began experiencing red alerts — which indicate severe power deficiencies that often lead to rotational blackouts — following months of less severe yellow alerts. These alerts were driven by outages at major coal-fired generating units, compounded by limited electricity imports from Luzon and Mindanao. Under current operating conditions, about 22.44 percent of the region’s total capacity is unavailable due to maintenance, forced outages, and reduced plant output.
Even with interconnection cables to other island grids, the Visayas cannot rely entirely on outside help. Bugaoisan noted that the region cannot simply absorb the full 440-megawatt capacity of its link with Luzon.
“We cannot afford to lose 440 megawatts at a time, because if that happens, it would rather deteriorate, it would even result into a massive, probably blackout,” he said.
Because importing massive amounts of power at once could destabilize the grid, the Department of Energy is eyeing localized, temporary solutions. The agency is looking at deploying 300 megawatts of power barges and 250 megawatts of battery energy storage systems for 2026 and 2027.
Power barges are floating, diesel-fueled power plants that can be moved to areas needing immediate supply. Battery systems do not generate power but store available electricity to release during peak demand or when generating units fail.
Pressuring the grid operator
Garin emphasized that while these temporary measures will not erase all red alerts, they will help contain outages during the high-demand summer months and periods of El Niño. To achieve this, she is pressuring the NGCP to speed up the installation of these battery systems, which she expected to be ready as early as June.
“Paki-assess na lang ng NGCP, ‘yung connection ng Luzon, Leyte, Leyte to Cebu. Bakit pina-announce ‘yan? Kasi hindi ako pinapakinggan eh. Kaya announce ko para kayo naman humingi sa kanila,” she said.
(Please have NGCP assess the connections from Luzon to Leyte and from Leyte to Cebu. Why did I announce this? Because I am not being heard, so I announced it so you could also ask them.)
Following Garin’s public call to fast-track the battery installations and assess transmission links, the NGCP declined to comment to the media.
Long-term island energy security
Beyond stopgap measures, the government is drafting a Visayas master plan aimed at securing the power supply of individual island clusters by 2031. The goal is to build enough generation capacity within Cebu, Negros, and Panay so they no longer have to rely heavily on electricity transmitted through submarine cables from other islands.
Under this plan, interconnections will serve primarily as backups to exchange excess power rather than as primary lifelines. To get there, the energy department expects Cebu-Bohol to gain 150 megawatts of additional baseload capacity and 470 megawatts of renewable energy in 2028. Separately, Therma Visayas Inc. is targeting a 150-megawatt expansion of its Toledo City power plant in the same year.
For Negros and Panay, the government is considering about 500 megawatts of natural gas capacity and up to 600 megawatts of coal-fired power. Natural gas plants typically take five years to build, partly due to global supply chain constraints for gas turbines.
Climate and consumer risks
Until these permanent facilities go online, extreme weather and aging infrastructure will continue to threaten the grid. Garin warned that the El Niño weather phenomenon could slash hydropower output by 40 percent and solar power by 20 percent.
Hotter weather also drives up consumption as households rely more on cooling equipment, a significant concern given that Cebu’s annual electricity demand is growing at 14 percent — more than double the national average of 6 percent.
This relentless demand places immense strain on existing coal-fired power plants. Heavy operation without sufficient backup capacity leads to maintenance challenges and equipment failures, such as boiler leaks, further reducing grid reliability.
In response to these operational failures, the energy department is enforcing a “three-strikes” policy that could lead to the suspension or blacklisting of generation companies whose facilities repeatedly fail to deliver power.
At the same time, the government is urging the public to manage its own consumption. Switching off unused lights and unplugging appliances that draw “phantom” power on standby could reduce regional demand by 10 to 20 percent, providing crucial relief to the strained grid. / CDF