‘BLACKOUT BLUES’: Business groups push Panay energy master plan, council

ILOILO CITY — Iloilo’s business community has called for urgent, coordinated action on recurring power interruptions, uncertain electricity supply, and rising power costs affecting businesses and consumers across Iloilo, Panay, and the greater Visayas.

The Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Iloilo Inc. (FCCCII) and the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry-Iloilo Chapter (PCCI Iloilo) released separate statements on Tuesday, Sept. 15, and Thursday, Sept. 17, respectively.

PCCI Iloilo is pressing for a long-term fix, calling for a Panay Energy Master Plan and a permanent multisectoral energy council to make the island’s power system more reliable, predictable, affordable, and resilient.

In its statement, PCCI Iloilo said recurring manual load dropping (MLD), generating plant outages, and deratings are placing increasing pressure on businesses, industries, and households.

“Reliable and reasonably priced electricity is fundamental economic infrastructure,” PCCI Iloilo said in its Sept. 17 statement.

The chamber said power interruptions cause lost operating hours, damaged equipment, spoiled inventory, disrupted digital transactions, reduced productivity, and added expenses for generators and backup systems, particularly for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

For industries, PCCI Iloilo said unreliable and expensive electricity affects production costs, competitiveness, expansion decisions, and the attractiveness of Iloilo and Panay as investment destinations.

It also said higher electricity costs reduce household disposable income, while recurring interruptions disrupt everyday life.

The chamber identified three interconnected concerns: power availability, power reliability, and power cost.

It said recurring outages, shutdowns, and deratings of generating facilities expose the vulnerability of the Visayas power system when significant generating capacity becomes unavailable.

PCCI Iloilo also said MLD, particularly when implemented with limited advance notice, disrupts business operations and imposes costs on businesses, workers, and consumers.

On power costs, the chamber said electricity rates should remain transparent, competitive, and reflective of legitimate costs.

Higher rates, repeated interruptions

FCCCII’s earlier statement raised similar concerns, citing recurring yellow and red alerts on the Visayas grid and rotational power interruptions in Iloilo City.

The chamber said Iloilo’s average commercial electricity rate rose from PHP 13.04 per kilowatt-hour in June to PHP 13.58 per kilowatt-hour in August.

That is an increase of PHP 0.54 per kilowatt-hour, or about 4.1 percent, in two months.

“Businesses are paying more for electricity while also carrying the cost of repeated interruptions,” FCCCII President Terence Uygongco said in the chamber’s Sept. 15 statement.

“This threatens productivity, employment, investment, and consumer prices,” Uygongco said.

FCCCII said businesses are paying extra for generators, fuel, overtime, equipment protection, and schedule adjustments while dealing with lost sales and reduced productivity.

The chamber said MSMEs are particularly vulnerable because many cannot afford backup power.

“While Manual Load Dropping may be necessary to prevent a wider grid failure, its repeated implementation shows the urgent need for lasting solutions,” FCCCII said.

Eight measures

PCCI Iloilo called for eight measures, beginning with stronger power supply and grid reliability through adequate generation, sufficient reserves, resilient transmission infrastructure, and diversified energy sources for Panay and the Visayas.

It also urged the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to strengthen monitoring of generation charges, market prices, and other electricity cost components to protect consumers from unreasonable increases while recognizing the legitimate costs of providing reliable power.

The chamber called for the review and implementation of a Panay Energy Master Plan in consultation with local government units, businesses, distribution utilities, generators, civil society, and other stakeholders.

“[There should be] a clear short-, medium- and long-term energy roadmap for Panay covering projected demand, generation requirements, renewable energy, storage, transmission, reserve requirements and energy security,” the chamber said.

In August, the DOE disclosed that it is developing an energy master plan for Panay, citing the island’s high and growing power demand and its position as an “end-of-the-line” sub-grid in the Visayas transmission system.

The DOE said the plan was still under internal discussion and that consultations with local government units, the business sector, distribution utilities, generators, civil society, and other stakeholders had yet to take place.

PCCI Iloilo also called for greater accountability from generating facilities with recurring outages, prolonged shutdowns, and deratings.

It said the DOE and ERC should conduct transparent reviews, determine the causes of recurring problems, enforce applicable reliability standards, and require corrective measures when necessary.

The chamber further urged the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) and distribution utilities to improve MLD allocation and communication by providing timely, accurate, and accessible advisories.

It said load allocation during power shortages should be fair, transparent, and strategic, and contingency planning should consider critical infrastructure and the economic consequences of prolonged interruptions.

Interconnection, new capacity

PCCI Iloilo also called for faster completion of the Panay-Mindoro-Batangas interconnection to give Panay stronger access to power from the Luzon grid and improve overall system resilience.

The DOE said on Tuesday, Sept. 15, that it was advancing the Mindoro-Panay Interconnection Project as part of its long-term strategy for Panay’s energy security.

The project is intended to connect the Visayas grid to the Batangas-Mindoro transmission link and allow more power to move between the Luzon and Visayas grids.

The DOE also said planned energy investments could add 135 megawatts (MW) of baseload capacity to Panay by 2028, another 270 MW in 2029, and 150 MW in 2030.

Combined, the planned baseload additions total 555 MW by 2030.

The agency added that 220 MW of gas-fired mid-merit capacity could be added by 2028.

Resiliency program, energy council

For longer-term business resilience, PCCI Iloilo proposed a Business Energy Resiliency Program that would assist MSMEs in particular through soft financing, incentives, and technical support for solar energy, battery storage, energy-efficient equipment, backup power, and other alternative energy solutions.

The program would also include business continuity and energy management initiatives.

PCCI Iloilo also proposed a permanent, multisectoral Panay/Iloilo Energy Council composed of representatives from the DOE, ERC, NGCP, distribution utilities, local governments, the business sector, academe, and civil society.

“The council should regularly monitor supply, demand, rates, generation and transmission projects, MLD incidents and emerging risks, and provide a continuing platform for transparency and coordinated action,” the chamber said.

“PCCI Iloilo recognizes that the power crisis cannot be solved by one institution alone,” the chamber said.

It added that government, regulators, generators, NGCP, distribution utilities, businesses, and consumers all have roles to play.

“What the business community asks is straightforward: adequate power, reliable power, fair power costs, transparency and accountability,” PCCI Iloilo said.

“Power security is not merely an energy issue. It is an economic issue, an investment issue, an employment issue, and ultimately, an issue that affects every Ilonggo household,” it said.