Building tomorrow’s power grid

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October 1, 2026 | 12:00am

After 25 years, the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) of 2001is back in the spotlight. The Philippines’ top energy leaders convened at a recent roundtable to judge EPIRA’s record after a quarter of a century.

The consensus was: EPIRA delivered on its promise. It pulled the country out of the power crisis that made it necessary in the first place. But the energy landscape of 2001 is not the one we face today. EPIRA now needs a timely refresh: a law flexible enough to keep pace with a rapidly evolving industry, while staying true to the goals it was built to achieve.

I am in total agreement with the points brought up during the discussion, after having been in the energy for close to 40 years and witnessed its evolution. The Philippines has to look beyond the conditions that shaped EPIRA in 2001 and prepare for a fundamentally different electricity system. Anything less is planning for a world that no longer exists.

Meralco COO Ronnie Aperocho put it plainly: the country must invest in the future rather than wait for problems to emerge. He stressed the importance of timely and prudent investments in generation and grid infrastructure, rather than waiting for shortages, congestion or reliability problems before acting.

Engr. Aperocho’s statement shows something that is not often talked about but is extremely important. The investment decisions we make today will determine whether the country can accommodate tomorrow’s electricity demand and technologies. Planning must anticipate the growth of renewable energy, energy storage, electric vehicles and other emerging technologies.

Electric infrastructure requires years to plan, permit, finance and construct. Waiting for shortages or congestion to appear before investing often means the solution arrives too late.

The grid itself also has to become future-ready. For Engr. Aperocho, the energy transition is not only about building new generation capacity. The country also needs a stronger, smarter and more flexible distribution network, one that can integrate new sources of electricity.

I found it refreshing that he acknowledged how the traditional role of the distribution utility is changing. It signals a willingness to invest in what the future actually requires, not just maintain what already exists.

Distribution networks are becoming platforms for distributed energy resources. Rooftop solar, batteries, EVs and other emerging technologies are putting more flexibility at the customer level. That, in fact, is inevitable.

Customers are becoming “prosumers.” They no longer just consume electricity. They produce it, store it and can send it back to the grid. The distribution system must therefore handle two-way power flows and far more complex interactions with customers.

This will require distribution utilities like Meralco to evolve into system operators of DERs. Rather than simply operating the wires, they will increasingly need to monitor, coordinate and manage a network of distributed energy resources.

That transformation demands major investment in digitalization and grid modernization. As the distribution network grows more complex, smart-grid technologies, automation, monitoring, data and advanced control systems will become essential.

Regulation will also most probably evolve alongside technology. Engr. Aperocho points to the need for an EPIRA framework that can address issues surrounding DER integration, interconnection, compensation, data, cybersecurity, flexibility and grid resilience.

Renewable energy growth makes grid investment even more urgent. Adding renewable capacity without the transmission, distribution, storage and flexibility needed to integrate can create a different set of system constraints.

I also agree that least-cost electricity should be viewed in terms of the entire system structure. Policymakers need to consider not only generation costs, but also transmission, distribution, storage, ancillary services, flexibility, resilience and the cost of unreliable supply. After all, having unreliable, or worse, no electricity is the most expensive of all.

The goal should be an electricity system that is not just affordable, but also reliable, resilient and sustainable. As Engr. Aperocho pointed out, the cheapest generation option on paper does not necessarily translate into the lowest overall cost for consumers if the system cannot reliably deliver that power.

Meralco’s vision is essentially a shift from managing the power system to building the power system that can manage a decentralized energy system. More importantly, investments have to be made now.

If EPIRA was designed to fix the power problems of the past 25 years, its next chapter should be about ensuring the Philippines does not find itself unprepared for the power system of the future.

I am fortunate to have witnessed a power system prior to EPIRA and saw the changes that went with its enactment. I am convinced of this: the country that fixed yesterday’s crisis can build tomorrow’s grid. I am also likewise hopeful that the day will come when massive improvements in all aspects of electric service — from generation, transmission and distribution — will benefit each consumer.

With government and the private sector working together, I think that can be achieved. The lights came back on once because we chose to reform. This time, let us choose to lead, and build a power system that keeps every Filipino home bright for the next 25 years and beyond.