The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) placed the Visayas grid under yellow alert for the fourth straight day on May 28, 2026, marking the 15th separate alert day this month. The alert was in effect from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. after the tripping of Unit 2 of the 103-megawatt (MW) coal-fired Kepco SPC Power Corp. plant in Naga City, Cebu, further straining the grid.
Plant Outages Strain Reserves
Forced outages at 13 power plants and derated capacities at 14 others have left approximately 1,006.2 MW of capacity unavailable. Affected facilities include Units 1 and 2 of Therma Visayas Inc. and Unit 3 of Panay Energy Development Corp. Some plants have been offline since as early as 2021.
Available capacity stood at 2,532 MW against a peak demand of 2,388 MW. A yellow alert is issued when operating reserves fall below the required contingency level, though supply still meets demand.
Rotational Brownouts Possible
Visayan Electric Company warned consumers of potential one-hour rotational brownouts across Cebu City, Talisay, Mandaue, Consolacion, and Liloan between 3 p.m. and 10 p.m. if conditions worsen to a red alert. Red alert is declared when supply cannot meet demand.
The utility urged residents to prepare for possible service interruptions and said it will continue monitoring the situation. The repeated alerts are attributed to rising electricity demand during the dry season, with increased use of cooling appliances pushing consumption higher.
