Consumers in Lapu-Lapu City are facing continued rotational brownouts and rising electricity concerns due to a power shortage with no definite end date.
The shortage may persist for more than two months because overall generation remains insufficient and additional capacity is required to fill the supply gap. During a Question Hour on Sept. 23, Vice Mayor Celedonio Sitoy stated that the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) could not provide a specific timeline for the end of the outages, noting that some damaged power plants can no longer be repaired.
Grid Instability and Capacity Issues
The current crisis follows months of red and yellow alerts across the Visayas grid, caused by limited electricity imports from Mindanao, reduced generating capacity, and forced outages. On Sept. 23, the NGCP placed the Visayas grid under a yellow alert between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. While the projected peak demand was 2,418 megawatts (MW), approximately 886.5 MW of generating capacity was unavailable, leaving 2,607 MW of available capacity.
Legislative and Regulatory Actions
The Lapu-Lapu City Council has passed multiple resolutions to address the crisis:
- Resolution No. 17-2233-2026 (July 15): Called for the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) and Department of Energy to audit MECO’s billing procedures, power supply agreements, and charges imposed on consumers.
- Resolution No. 17-2518-2026 (Sept. 7): Urged Mactan Electric Co. (MECO) to provide detailed and accurate schedules for rotational brownouts, including restoration times and affected areas.
- Resolution No. 17-2524-2026 (Sept. 16): Invited representatives from the ERC, NGCP, and MECO to explain the ongoing interruptions.
At the national level, House Resolution No. 1430, co-authored by Lone District Rep. Junard “Ahong” Chan, is currently pending before the House Committee on Energy. The resolution seeks a congressional inquiry into transmission projects, energy storage, generation, backup power reserves, and ancillary service charges in the Visayas.
Consumer Costs and Utility Roles
City council members expressed concern over rising electricity bills and various statement charges. MECO clarified that as a distribution utility, it has limited control over transmission wheeling fees collected by NGCP, ancillary service charges for grid stability, and payments to power suppliers for generation.
Vice Mayor Sitoy criticized the ERC for lacking a concrete action plan and indicated he would coordinate with Mayor Ma. Cynthia “Cindi” King-Chan regarding potential measures to help affected consumers.
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