A consumer advocacy group on Tuesday urged the incoming members of the 20th Congress to tackle the country’s long-standing energy problems, citing the need to end recurring summer power outages and reduce electricity costs.
The Power for People Coalition (P4P) made the appeal as results of the 2025 national and local elections continue to come in.
The group pointed to a recent announcement by Meralco of lower electricity rates—attributed to the return of five coal-fired power plants, with a combined capacity of 1,759 megawatts, to the grid after being offline throughout the summer.
“The 19th Congress was marked by lawmakers ignoring the complaints of consumers,” said Gerry Arances, P4P Convenor.
Arances said the previous Congress accelerated the renewal of Meralco’s franchise despite ongoing issues, including questionable billing practices, conflicts of interest in its distribution and generation roles, and a continued reliance on costly fossil fuels.
He noted that lawmakers also expanded the use of natural gas, a move he criticized for driving up electricity rates and weakening power systems in countries without domestic supply. He urged incoming legislators to prioritize the welfare of consumers over industry interests.
Arances emphasized that systemic reforms in the energy sector must be prioritized, warning that high power costs and unreliable electricity supply are hampering the country’s economic growth.
“The economic potential of the country is constrained by the predatory practices of power companies. Businesses and residential consumers alike complain of high power rates while suffering through red alerts and power outages during the summer, when electricity is needed the most,” he said.
He further criticized the country’s reliance on fossil fuels such as coal and gas, saying these not only burden consumers with volatile prices but also create conditions that benefit power companies even when services fail.
“The next Congress should look into the continued dependence on fossil fuels such as coal and gas, whose volatile price and supply produce record profits for power companies to the detriment of everyone else,” he said.
Arances argued that fossil fuel-dependent power plants are the primary cause of recurring summer power crises, pointing to frequent breakdowns.
He said the current structure of the energy industry encourages companies to continue using these fuels, as they profit even when they fail to supply electricity.
He also urged the public to continue monitoring lawmakers’ actions on energy issues.
“We can only force a solution to the power crisis if politicians know that we are watching them. Let’s keep our eyes on our elected representatives and how they vote on key energy issues,” said Arances.
