PCA questions emergency powers amid Visayas power crisis

ILOILO CITY — The Panay Consumers Alliance (PCA) has urged Congress to closely scrutinize proposals to grant President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. additional emergency powers to address the Visayas power crisis, warning that accelerated government action could further concentrate the electricity sector in the hands of large private companies.

PCA raised the concern following the joint congressional public hearing in Bacolod City on Oct. 3, where lawmakers and energy officials discussed recurring power interruptions, supply shortages and measures to stabilize the Visayas grid.

The House committees on energy, Visayas development and legislative franchises convened the hearing to tackle six resolutions covering recurring grid alerts, generation shortages, transmission problems, ancillary services and the impact of outages on consumers and the regional economy.

Some lawmakers floated granting Marcos broader emergency authority to accelerate the construction, permitting and implementation of critical power projects.

Energy Secretary Sharon Garin backed the proposal, saying additional powers could help shorten regulatory, permitting and right-of-way processes that can delay generation, transmission and distribution projects.

PCA questioned the proposal, saying the administration already has powers it has not fully used to shield consumers from high electricity costs.

Marcos declared a state of national energy emergency through Executive Order No. 110 in March amid threats to the country’s energy supply arising from the conflict in the Middle East.

The consumer group argued that expanding executive powers could weaken regulatory and public oversight if emergency measures are used to expedite projects without sufficient scrutiny of their economic, environmental and social impacts.

Faster permits, bigger players

PCA also expressed concern over the government’s push to accelerate permits for new generation projects, saying the crisis should not become a justification for giving established energy companies greater control over the country’s power supply.

It specifically pointed to major business groups involved in the power industry, including Aboitiz, Ayala, San Miguel Corp., Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) and First Gen Corp., saying expedited projects could reinforce the dominance of large private players.

The government has argued that additional generation and transmission capacity is needed to meet growing electricity demand and prevent further supply disruptions.

Garin acknowledged during the Bacolod hearing that the Visayas lacks sufficient baseload generation capacity, saying the shortage has contributed to recurring grid alerts and power interruptions.

PCA, however, said faster approvals should not come at the expense of environmental safeguards, agricultural land or meaningful public participation.

NGCP role questioned

PCA also raised concerns over proposals involving the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP), the private concessionaire operating the country’s transmission network.

During the hearing, lawmakers discussed amending NGCP’s franchise to allow the grid operator to generate electricity specifically and exclusively for ancillary services, or reserve power used to help maintain grid reliability.

PCA argued that allowing a dominant transmission player to gain a foothold in power generation could further concentrate control over the electricity system.

NGCP, for its part, said it is not legally authorized under its current mandate to build and operate its own power plant for ancillary services.

The grid operator has also maintained that transmission improvements alone cannot resolve the Visayas power problem when insufficient generation capacity remains a major constraint.

As system operator, NGCP determines the ancillary service requirements needed to maintain grid reliability and procures those reserves from qualified providers.

Questions over WESM prices

PCA also called for greater scrutiny of electricity prices in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), particularly during periods of tight supply.

Average WESM prices in the Visayas reached PHP 18.59 per kilowatt-hour in the August 2026 billing period, up from PHP 11.29/kWh in July, according to the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP).

Mindanao’s average WESM price similarly climbed to PHP 19.56/kWh from PHP 10.39/kWh.

IEMOP attributed the increases to generating-unit outages, tighter regional supply margins and transmission constraints that increased reliance on more expensive generation.

The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) subsequently ordered the Secondary Price Cap to be computed and applied separately to the Visayas and Mindanao grids beginning with the August 2026 billing period.

ERC simulations showed that applying the mechanism would reduce the average August WESM price in the Visayas by 54%, from PHP 18.59/kWh to PHP 8.47/kWh.

In Mindanao, the simulated average would fall by 56%, from PHP 19.56/kWh to PHP 8.69/kWh.

PCA said the scale of the projected reductions warrants closer examination of how electricity prices were formed during the supply crisis.

The group also questioned the Philippine Electricity Market Corp.’s handling of allegations of market manipulation.

PCA said assertions during the hearing that there was no market manipulation could further undermine public confidence if they were not accompanied by a detailed explanation of the basis for that conclusion.

The ERC has directed the market surveillance arm of the Philippine Electricity Market Corp. to examine generator bidding, offer and dispatch behavior during periods of unusually high prices.

Consumers shoulder costs

For PCA, consumers have borne the effects of the power crisis through rotational brownouts, higher electricity charges and costs associated with contingency mechanisms such as the Interruptible Load Program.

The group said accountability should therefore extend beyond identifying and fast-tracking additional power projects.

It called for investigations into the performance of generation and transmission companies, possible market abuses and decisions made by government agencies responsible for electricity planning and regulation.

The congressional hearing comes amid a persistent shortage of dependable generation capacity in the Visayas.

Energy officials have acknowledged that the region needs additional baseload capacity as electricity demand continues to rise.

PCA calls for changes to EPIRA

PCA linked the current crisis to the broader industry structure created by Republic Act No. 9136, or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001, which restructured the electricity sector around privatization and competitive markets.

The group argued that EPIRA has failed to prevent the concentration of economic power and has left consumers vulnerable to supply shortages and volatile electricity prices.

Rather than relying primarily on new private investment and expedited permits, PCA called for a fundamental review of the country’s power-sector framework.

The group said reforms should prioritize affordable and reliable electricity, environmental protection and stronger public accountability.

It also called for closer government oversight of electricity markets and greater transparency in the operations of generation, transmission and market institutions.

PCA ultimately called for EPIRA to be repealed and replaced with a system in which electricity is treated as an essential public service, with stronger public control over decisions involving generation, transmission, distribution and pricing.

The debate over additional emergency powers is expected to continue as Congress and energy agencies weigh short-term interventions against longer-term measures to increase dependable power supply in the Visayas.