Consumer groups blamed repeated coal-fired power plant outages for persistent power alerts in the Visayas, saying supply failures have forced utilities to buy more expensive electricity from the spot market.
The Power for People Coalition said the Visayas grid experienced red alerts on 34 days and yellow alerts on 96 days between May 12 and Sept. 8. The group said the alerts occurred on non-consecutive days.
P4P and allied groups staged simultaneous protests on Sept. 16 at the Department of Energy field office in Cebu City and in Tacloban and Bacolod over continuing power outages across the region.
P4P convenor Gerry Arances said several coal-fired power plants had repeatedly been cited by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines in connection with red and yellow alerts.
“The major culprits behind the yellow and red alerts are coal-fired power plants under forced outage,” said Arances.
He said Therma Visayas Inc. Unit 2 had been cited 99 times by the NGCP, while TVI Unit 1 was cited 91 times and Panay Energy Development Corp. Unit 3 was cited 63 times.
“When these coal plants fail, distribution utilities purchase capacity from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market to meet demand, at much higher rates,” he said.
Arances said WESM marginal prices in some areas of the Visayas reached as high as ₱48 per kilowatt-hour, while coal plant participants recorded settlement prices of up to ₱32 per kWh.
“Coal brings not only unreliable energy, but also expensive electricity,” he said.
Teody Navea of Sanlakas-Cebu said consumers were bearing the impact of prolonged outages.
“Millions of ordinary consumers across Visayas needlessly struggle against unreliable and expensive electricity,” said Navea.
Farah Gamalo of the Freedom from Debt Coalition-Eastern Visayas said continued coal dependence also posed climate risks.
“There’s no place for coal in Visayas. Coal promises only unreliable electricity while worsening the climate crisis,” said Gamalo.
P4P and its allies urged the government to move away from further coal and gas development and expand community-centered renewable energy.
