Cebu Third District Representative Karen Hope F. Garcia filed a resolution on September 9, 2026, directing the House Committee on Energy to investigate recurring grid alerts and rotational brownouts in Cebu and the Visayas, and to determine whether power plant breakdowns and delayed transmission projects are inflating electricity bills.
House Resolution No. 1439 was e-filed with the House Bills and Index Service at 2:08 p.m. on September 9 — the same day the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) placed the Visayas grid on red alert from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m., with a yellow alert extending to 11 p.m., according to SunStar.
Three Causes of Supply Shortfall Under Scrutiny
The resolution seeks an inquiry in aid of legislation into three areas: generation unavailability, transmission capacity, and the pace of infrastructure delivery. It also covers the crisis's consequences for electricity rates, host communities, and the provincial economy.
Garcia said in a statement posted on social media that the inquiry would uncover the real operational status of power plants and determine whether the cost of system failures is being passed on to consumers.
"The public deserves complete transparency and accountability. We need to establish the ground truth behind these blackouts," Garcia said.
She warned that if electricity rates rise from ₱11 to nearly ₱19 per kilowatt-hour — as recent reports have projected — "ordinary families are effectively being treated as a financial safety cushion for planning deficiencies and power supply breakdowns."
94 Yellow Alerts and 31 Red Alerts Since January
Citing NGCP data, HR 1439 states that as of September 4, 2026, the Visayas grid had logged 94 yellow alerts and 31 red alerts since the start of the year. On that date, NGCP reported eight generating plants on forced outage in September, with 17 others running at derated capacities and approximately 815.8 megawatts unavailable to the grid. Imports from Mindanao were limited or unavailable.
On September 7, the grid was placed on red alert from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. and on yellow alert from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. and from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., with about 818.9 MW unavailable. Rotational brownouts in parts of Cebu lasted up to approximately 2.5 hours. NGCP's head of System Operations–Visayas said on September 4 that roughly 971 MW of generation capacity was unavailable.
Toledo Power Plants at the Center of the Inquiry
The resolution focuses on Toledo City in Garcia's district, which hosts baseload plants operated by Therma Visayas Inc. (TVI) and Cebu Energy Development Corp. (CEDC). It cites prolonged forced outages and derating in 2026, including TVI Unit 1 (169 MW). CEDC Unit 1 (82 MW) returned to service on September 5, but as of September 7, NGCP listed TVI Unit 1 as unavailable and TVI Unit 2 operating at a derated 146.2 MW. Panay Energy Development Corp. Unit 3, rated at about 150 MW, was also unavailable.
The resolution notes that Cebu's system peak demand has reached approximately 1,400 MW, based on the Department of Energy's (DOE) latest five-year statistics, and that NGCP has said the province accounts for roughly half of Visayas grid demand.
NGCP Acceleration Plan Required Within 15 Days
HR 1439 directs the committee to require NGCP to submit, within 15 days of receipt, a written and dated acceleration plan for transmission projects serving Cebu. The plan must identify each project's critical path, outstanding approvals, rights-of-way and permits, the party responsible for each item, and the earliest achievable completion date.
The resolution notes that the transmission grid grew by only 8 percent from 2009 to 2022, from 19,425 to 21,027 circuit-kilometers. On June 14, 2023, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) ordered NGCP to explain delays in 37 transmission projects — 26 were uncompleted and three had yet to begin, with delays ranging from 21 to 2,561 days.
The ERC has previously penalized NGCP over delayed capital expenditure projects, including the Cebu–Negros–Panay 230 kV Backbone, the Cebu–Lapu-Lapu Transmission Project, and the Naga (Cebu) Substation Upgrading. The Cebu–Leyte 230 kV Interconnection Lines 3 and 4 Project has phased completion targets of 2031, 2033, and 2035. The existing Leyte–Cebu link carries about 200 MW per circuit.
Rate Deferral and Cooperative Relief Under Review
The resolution cites the ERC's approval of a deferment for Visayan Electric's July 2026 billing, which held the residential rate at ₱14.90 per kWh instead of the projected ₱17.59, with the deferred amount to be recovered in later billing cycles.
The inquiry would examine whether the ERC has extended or would consider similar deferred recovery for Cebu's electric cooperatives, and what financial conditions — such as assistance from the National Electrification Administration or deferred collection by suppliers — would be required for such relief to work without impairing cooperative operations.
The committee would also review the status of any audit, refund, or adjustment arising from the ERC's August 13, 2026 order, which addressed erroneous Line Rental charges in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market and directed recomputation of affected settlements dating back to June 26, 2021.
Generation Company Accountability and Possible New Laws
The resolution notes that the DOE issued 175 show-cause orders to generation companies in 2026 over violations of reporting requirements, including failure to submit annual self-assessment forms. The DOE has publicly discussed a three-strike approach under which repeated violations, after due process, could lead to a recommendation for blacklisting.
Among the legislative options the inquiry would consider is a statutory framework for generation-outage accountability, covering mandatory outage reporting, publication of restoration timelines, and sanctions for repeated or prolonged non-compliance. Other options include measures to accelerate transmission projects and protect hospitals, water districts, and evacuation centers from manual load dropping.
Host Community Funds Also Under Review
The inquiry would also check whether generation companies in the Third District comply with Section 66 of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) and DOE Department Circular No. DC2025-10-0023, which raised the financial benefit for host communities from ₱0.01 to ₱0.03 per kWh effective January 2026. The review covers the remittance, allocation, and use of the Electrification Fund, the Development and Livelihood Fund, and the Reforestation, Watershed Management, Health and/or Environment Enhancement Fund.
Other Visayas Lawmakers File Similar Resolutions
Garcia's resolution is part of a broader legislative response to the Visayas power crisis. According to SunStar, Negros Oriental Third District Rep. Janice Degamo filed House Resolution 1114 in June, seeking an Energy Committee inquiry into the region's repeated grid alerts, power cuts, and sudden plant shutdowns.
Deputy Speaker and Bacolod Rep. Alfredo Abelardo Benitez has sought a separate investigation through the House Committee on Visayas Development, with Inquirer.net reporting that brownouts in parts of the region have stretched from about an hour to as long as nine hours. Negros Occidental Third District Rep. Javier Miguel Benitez announced plans to file a resolution covering, among other issues, the ₱1.04 per kWh charge consumers pay for backup power, according to The Manila Times.
The DOE has targeted resolution of the persistent grid alerts before Christmas. The Cebu Provincial Government has scheduled an energy summit for October 7, 2026. Copies of HR 1439 will be furnished to the DOE, ERC, NGCP, the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP), and the concerned generation companies, distribution utilities, and electric cooperatives.
By the Numbers
- 94 yellow alerts logged on the Visayas grid from January to September 4, 2026 (NGCP data)
- 31 red alerts logged on the Visayas grid in the same period (NGCP data)
- 815.8 MW unavailable to the grid on September 4, 2026 (NGCP data)
- 818.9 MW unavailable on September 7, 2026, when red and yellow alerts were declared (NGCP data)
- 971 MW of generation capacity unavailable as of September 4, per NGCP's System Operations–Visayas head
- ₱11 to nearly ₱19 per kWh — projected range of Cebu electricity rate increase cited by Garcia
- ₱14.90 per kWh — deferred residential rate for Visayan Electric's July 2026 billing vs. projected ₱17.59
- 37 NGCP transmission projects flagged by the ERC in June 2023 for delays; 26 uncompleted, three not yet begun
- 175 show-cause orders issued by the DOE to generation companies in 2026
- 450 MW — current transfer capacity of the Mindanao–Visayas Interconnection Project, against its designed 900 MW
- October 7, 2026 — scheduled date of the Cebu Provincial Government's energy summit
Why This Matters
The Visayas grid's 94 yellow and 31 red alerts in under nine months, combined with projected rate hikes from ₱11 to nearly ₱19 per kWh, signal a deepening power supply and cost crisis affecting households, businesses, and critical public facilities across Cebu and the wider Visayas region. HR 1439, together with parallel resolutions from other Visayas lawmakers, reflects growing legislative pressure on the DOE, ERC, NGCP, and generation companies to account for plant outages, transmission delays, and the financial burden being passed on to consumers. The outcome of the inquiry could produce new legislation on outage accountability, transmission project timelines, and rate relief mechanisms for electric cooperatives.
Photo credit: Photo courtesy of SunStar Cebu